🔄 Undoing systems 🏚️ Taking apart buildings 🏚️ To dismantle

unbuilding

9.5

Breaking down old systems or institutions on purpose

noun
/ʌnˈbɪldɪŋ/

: desmantelamiento

Critics argued that the policy led to the unbuilding of important social institutions.

Examples

Many activists advocate for the unbuilding of oppressive systems.
After years of reform, the unbuilding of the outdated system was finally complete.
The slow unbuilding of the old traditions made way for new ideas in the community.
The unbuilding of outdated policies is necessary for progress.
The slow unbuilding of the old traditions made way for new ideas in the community.
After years of reform, the unbuilding of the outdated system was finally complete.
Many activists advocate for the unbuilding of oppressive systems.

Synonyms

unmaking

vsunbuilding

2 6.1

The act of ending or destroying something that existed before

focuses on deliberate dismantling of systems and institutions in a figurative sense

demolishment

vsunbuilding

5.7

The act of destroying something so it is completely ruined

emphasizes undoing established systems deliberately and often as a figurative process

Antonyms

building

941 1.0

Work of making or fixing houses and other structures for a living

How Radical

unbuilding

9.5

restructuring

54 4.2

to reform

228 3.7

Surface Forms

unbuilding singular

unbuildings plural

Morphology

unbuilding = unbuild (semi-transparent) = un + build + ing

Formed from the verb 'unbuild' plus the nominal/gerundial suffix '-ing', the relation to 'undoing construction' is direct and inferable by learners.

Etymology

Unbuilding comes from the prefix un- meaning 'reverse' and the word build meaning 'to make'. So unbuilding is like 'undoing' what was built, often used for taking apart old systems or institutions.