unhinged

American  

[uhn-hinjd] / ʌnˈhɪndʒd /

adjective

1. having no hinge or hinges, or with the hinges removed.

   an unhinged gate.

2. unsettled, disordered, or distraught.

   He became unhinged when his friend died.

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Etymology

Origin of unhinged

First recorded in 1710–20; unhinged ( def. 1 ) un- ¹ + hinged ( def. ); unhinged ( def. 2 ) unhinge + -ed ²

Example Sentences

The entire bit had the loose, slightly unhinged charm that Colbert’s best holiday sketches depend on.

From Salon

But it would’ve felt a touch unhinged to track down your old third-grade teacher two days later and slap a Polaroid of your crudités into her hand like, Look upon my vegetable glory!

From Salon

Fred’s boss is a man of “slightly unhinged intensity,” whom Fred has seen, more than once, “weep on cue, before the entire district, like a fund-raising evangelist.”

From The Wall Street Journal

I became unhinged, describing the connection Allen and I had, the things he would say and how he would make me feel.

From Los Angeles Times

“We just became a walking Find My Phone for an unhinged god who wants to use your soul power—I mean, your sunsum—to bring back the dead Mother Earth?”

From Literature

Related Words

• deranged
• disturbed
• manic
• unbalanced