unmake
Americanverb (used with object)
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unmakes,
present (3rd person singular)
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unmade,
past participle, past
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unmaking
present participle
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to cause to be as if never made; reduce to the original elements or condition; undo; destroy.
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to depose from office or authority; demote in rank.
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to change the essential point of (a book, play, etc.).
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to alter the opinion of (one's mind).
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to change or alter the character of.
verb
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to undo or destroy
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to depose from office, rank, or authority
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to alter the nature of
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unmakesimple
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unmakessimple
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have unmadeperfect
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has unmadeperfect
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am unmakingprogressive
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are unmakingprogressive
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is unmakingprogressive
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have been unmakingperfect progressive
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has been unmakingperfect progressive
Past
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unmadesimple
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had unmadeperfect
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was unmakingprogressive
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were unmakingprogressive
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had been unmakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unmake
First recorded in 1350–1400, unmake is from the Middle English word unmaken. See un- 2, make 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:
How do we "unmake the self-made myth," Quart asks.
From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2023
There’s no choice in that; there’s no room to really unmake yourself from it.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 8, 2022
In a swift 12 songs and 39 minutes, Vu grapples with what it takes to unmake and remake the self.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2022
Why make a bed when you’re only going to have to unmake it that night?
From Washington Post ● Dec. 12, 2021
Indeed, della Porta’s experiments led him to adopt the opposite view: that you can use a diamond to make, rather than unmake, a magnet.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
When Morpheus unmakes the Corinthian, he denounces the aggrieved entitlement of the Collectors telling them, "Until now, you have sustained fantasies in which you are the victims, comforting daydreams in which you are always right."
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2022
The artist both unmakes and remakes, transforming everyday objects into both raw material and accomplished art.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 20, 2021
Again, she poses an idea through possibility: “Maybe the value of art, to artists and everyone else, is that it upends other value systems. Art unmakes the world made by art.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2020
That which makes us also unmakes us, and the process of living seems inextricably bound to the process of dying.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 27, 2017
The world unmakes stuff faster than people can make it.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
Second, they believed that financial fortunes were made and unmade, above all else, by circumstance, meaning that defaults did not tar someone’s financial reputation for life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Mexican media outlets published images of the cabin's luxurious interior, showing furniture with open drawers and unmade beds.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
Discussing unmade films and dealing with an unruly pet iguana, Panahi renders an illuminating self-portrait.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2025
Mr Evans said it was not "in the middle of nowhere" but was along an unmade track on "quite a busy" public footpath through the wood.
From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2024
Everything was faded and silent in the dawn—dirty teacups, unmade bed, snowflakes floating past the window with an airy, dangerous calm.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
“Because it is the unmaking of an agreement, rescission is an extreme remedy and should only be granted by a court of equity when it is ‘clearly warranted,’” the court wrote in the unsigned opinion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
What the voyage now represents is the unmaking of ideas from some of the great thinkers and creators of the age.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2025
Bess entered the room and immediately started unmaking the bed.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 9, 2022
There you go: the breaking, making and then unmaking of the world in under two minutes.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2021
Science is not like the state, which is entirely of our own making, though unmaking it would, like unmaking money, be far from easy.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
