undoing
Americannoun
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the reversing of what has been done; annulling.
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a bringing to destruction, ruin, or disaster.
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a cause of destruction or ruin.
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the act of unfastening or loosing.
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Psychiatry. an unconscious defense mechanism through which an attempt is made to reverse a psychologically unacceptable act by doing its opposite, usually repetitiously, in order to relieve anxiety.
noun
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ruin; downfall
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the cause of downfall
drink was his undoing
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of undoing
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at undo, -ing 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“They really don’t get credit for doing something bad and then undoing it,” U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
"This is literally a matter of life and death, and risks undoing years of hard-won progress," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
In LaSalle’s opinion, echoed by many critics at the time, the maudlin elements of the film’s third act are its undoing.
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026
Think of it as undoing all the bad things that sitting does.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
I found that the philosophers there, centuries ago, had created a tool for their own undoing: an instrument they called the subtle knife.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
The bills follow other subtle undoings that opponents have linked to prioritizing energy over conservation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2018
Worldly doings and undoings on and around a posh golf course.
From Time Magazine Archive
This novel ends where Shakespeare's Hamlet begins--after Act I, Scene 2, to be precise--and fills in the story of what the dramatis personae might have been up to before their tragic undoings at Elsinore.
From Time Magazine Archive
One of the production's inspired touches is to punctuate the private doings and undoings of the characters with snatches of contemporaneous news footage.
From Time Magazine Archive
All his thoughts, with those of his auditors, were upon Madonna of the Peach-Tree, whom there was nothing, absolutely nothing, to connect with Fra Battista, his doings and undoings.
From Little Novels of Italy by Hewlett, Maurice Henry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
