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to unfinish

to unfinish

8.3
To stop doing something before it is complete
  • verb
  • /ʌnˈfɪnɪʃ/
: incompletar
  • The artist decided to unfinish the painting, leaving some areas bare for viewers to interpret.

Examples

  • I had this idea of unfinishing the quilting where it's just quilted in some sections and then not, but still having the polyfill.

  • I had this idea of unfinishing the quilting or just quilted in some sections and then not, but still having the polyfill.

  • After weeks of work, he chose to unfinish the project, feeling it was more interesting that way.

  • She liked to unfinish her writing, deliberately omitting the last few sentences to create suspense.

Antonyms

∞ 1.0

To bring something to an end or complete it

∞ 1.0

To finish something or make it whole

How Finished

complete
863 1.0
to finish
∞ 1.0
to unfinish
8.3

Surface Forms

unfinish infinitive
unfinished past
unfinished past participle
unfinishing present participle
unfinishes third person singular

Morphology

unfinish = finish (transparent) = un + finish

The verb is a straightforward negative/reversative formation with the productive prefix 'un-' applied to the verb 'finish'.

Etymology

Unfinish is made of un- and finish, like in unfinished. finish means 'end', so to unfinish something is to leave it 'not finished' or incomplete.