unhinge
part of speech
verb (unhinge, unhinges, unhinged, unhinging); adjective (unhinged)
meaning for a pupil
1) To take a door or lid off its hinges. tree →
2) To upset someone so much that they stop thinking clearly or calmly. tree →
3) (informal) «Unhinged» means acting in a wild, strange or crazy way. tree →
sense in the lessons
In stories, «unhinged» tells the reader a character has lost control or is acting madly, like a villain. In everyday and online talk, people say a joke or video is «unhinged» when it is wildly silly. In DIY, you unhinge a door to fix or paint it.
examples
- Dad had to unhinge the door to fit the new carpet. tree →
- The cupboard door was unhinged and lay on the floor. tree →
- The shock of the news seemed to unhinge him. tree →
- The villain gave an unhinged laugh. tree →
- That comedy sketch was completely unhinged. tree →
- Don't let one bad mark unhinge you before the test. tree →
- We unhinged the gate and carried it to the shed. tree →
note
Mostly used as the adjective «unhinged». Calling a real person «unhinged» can be unkind, because it suggests they are mentally ill; be careful using it about people.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «unhinge» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.