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to unreserve

to unreserve

8.1
Make someone more open and willing to talk to others
  • verb
  • /ˌʌn.rɪˈzɝːv/
: desinhibir
  • A warm welcome can quickly unreserve even the shyest guest.

Examples

  • The friendly atmosphere helped unreserve the new students during orientation.

  • The therapist encouraged him to unreserve his feelings.

  • Her gentle questions began to unreserve him, and he told the full story.

  • Can you unreserve your comments for a moment?

  • The supportive environment helped unreserve the press shy team member during the meeting.

  • Her kind words seemed to unreserve him, allowing him to share his thoughts freely.

  • After spending time with friends, he felt it easier to unreserve and express his true feelings.

Synonyms

to unbend
vsto unreserve
1 5.6

Relax and become less tense or formal

makes someone more open in speech and behaviour rather than just relaxed
to unpucker
vsto unreserve
  • Informal
7.6

Make a tense person or situation feel more relaxed

creates openness in speech and behaviour instead of merely reducing tension

How Open

to open up
  • Informal
149 2.9
to loosen up
  • Informal
31 3.4
to unreserve
8.1
to encourage
∞ 2.3
to nudge
24 4.1
to prompt
217 3.6

Surface Forms

unreserve infinitive
unreserved past
unreserved past participle
unreserving present participle
unreserves third person singular

Morphology

unreserve = reserve (transparent) = un + reserve

The prefix 'un-' negates or undoes the notion of 'reserve' (restraint), so 'unreserve' meaning 'make less reserved' follows a clear lexical negation.

Etymology

Unreserve as a verb meaning to make someone more open comes from un- 'make not' and reserve 'to hold back'. To unreserve someone is to help them stop holding back and become more open.