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Glite Dictionary
🚪 To remove 🧠 To upset mentally
to unhinge

to unhinge

1 7.9
To make someone very upset or unable to think clearly
  • verb
  • /ʌnˈhɪndʒ/
translation icon : desconcertar
  • By finding your opponent's psychological weaknesses, you can work to unhinge their minds.

The first rough cut will unhinge you because you've made YouTube videos.

Examples

  • This was good in an unhinged, anxious kind of way.

  • In particular, his mother's messy sexuality really seems to unhinge him.

    Blog text (29)

  • Your grief has unhinged you.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Her mother's death had unhinged him, Jody knew.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Your conceit, Mr. Waring, has unhinged your mind.

    The Black Swan (1942)

  • The shocking news about her friend unhinged her, making it hard for her to concentrate.

  • Witnessing the terrible accident unhinged him, leaving him anxious and unable to function properly.

  • The constant pressure at work seemed to unhinge her, causing her to feel overwhelmed and distressed.

Synonyms

to trouble
vsto unhinge
174 1.8

To cause someone worry or bother

refers specifically to disrupting normal mental operation causing stronger imbalance
to upset
vsto unhinge
57 3.0

Make something fall over or move out of place

applies specifically to a person's mind not just general systems
to unsettle
vsto unhinge
7 4.9

To make someone feel worried or uneasy

causes deeper mental imbalance rather than only temporary anxiety
to perturb
vsto unhinge
1 7.7

To cause a sudden change that upsets the normal order of a system or situation

targets a person's mind causing loss of normal mental balance
to disquiet
vsto unhinge
1 7.3

To make someone feel worried or uneasy

pushes someone beyond worry into loss of normal mind function
to unglue
vsto unhinge
  • Informal
7.5

To make someone lose control of their feelings

causes lasting loss of normal mental balance and control

Antonyms

to stabilize
  • US
75 4.3

To become steady and stop changing

How Disturbed

to derange
2 8.7
to unhinge
1 7.9
to unsettle
7 4.9
to upset
362 1.0
to bother
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

unhinge infinitive
unhinged past
unhinged past participle
unhinging present participle
unhinges third person singular

Morphology

unhinge = hinge (semi-transparent) = un + hinge

The mental/disturbing sense is a metaphorical extension from the physical sense of removing a hinge (i.e., making something unstable), so the relation is clear but non-literal.

Etymology

Unhinge uses the same picture for the mind: with un- 'remove' and hinge, it is like taking the hinge off a person's mind so they stop being steady. So to unhinge someone means to disturb or upset them in their mind.