unhinges

verb

present tense third-person singular of unhinge
1
as in disturbs
to cause to go insane or as if insane the endless harassment by the guards completely unhinged the prisoners of war

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in distracts
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy I was momentarily unhinged by the unexpected question

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unhinges
  1. disturbs
  2. distracts
  3. unsettles
  4. bothers
  5. confuses
  6. alarms
  7. upsets
  8. worries
Verb
  • Some of the sightings claim a man wearing clothing typical of the 17th or 18th centuries, a man dressed in Confederate attire in the liquor room, a ghost of a former worker Joseph Hardesty and a female who actively disturbs visitors to her home.
    — Kaitlyn Keegan, Hartford Courant, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Vibration disturbs the natural sediments in wine, flattening the flavor and aging it prematurely.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of disturbs
Verb
  • Theranos whistleblower Tyler Shultz and Bad Blood author John Carreyrou have both weighed in, and Fortune has questioned whether her new persona distracts from the real story.
    — Bilin Lin, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Similarly, Sudan hopes that internal conflict in Ethiopia distracts Addis from its support of the rapid support forces militia in Sudan’s war.
    — Paul Tilsley, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of distracts
Verb
  • Spry said the attacker could have targeted any neighborhood residents — a thought that still unsettles her, given how easily the situation could have escalated.
    — Doha Madani, NBC news, 5 Aug. 2026
  • That is precisely the capability that unsettles underwriters, because an agent that can decide is an agent that can decide wrongly, and fast.
    — Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026
Definition of unsettles
Verb
  • Television doesn’t lack for comedies that deliver biting satire and cogent commentary — that are, in fact, so committed to commentary that nobody bothers to even include jokes.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026
  • When asked if this bothers him at all, Shaq launches into a story about his youth.
    — Marlow Stern, Variety, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of bothers
Verb
  • The legal system dehumanizes her, the support group confuses her, and one of her friends painfully disappoints her.
    — Carey Purcell, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2026
  • This confuses each Nyota but also those around them, who note that the Nyotas have rather quickly assumed new hairstyles but also that neither is behaving quite like herself.
    — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of confuses
Verb
  • That prospect alarms those in Europe, who fear FIFA could increasingly challenge their competitions for space on an already overcrowded calendar.
    — Clemente Lisi, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
  • He becomes increasingly consumed by the otherworldly dimension, which alarms his therapist, Mary (Renate Reinsve).
    — Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 30 May 2026
Definition of alarms
Verb
  • Speaker Mike Johnson can lose two Republican votes before a third defection upsets the majority.
    — Lauren Peller, ABC News, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The leader who needs to be liked will, when forced to choose, find a reason to delay the hard conversation, soften the hard feedback, wait one more week on the call that upsets someone whose support feels useful today.
    — Mohamed AL Hashemi, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of upsets
Verb
  • Tehran fears that surrendering its maritime leverage first would invite fresh demands; Washington worries that easing pressure would reward coercion without securing lasting constraints on Iran’s nuclear program.
    — Ali Vaez, Time, 21 Oct. 2026
  • With construction expected deep into the night, Ping worries, the dust and vibrations will only worsen.
    — Curbed, Curbed, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of worries
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

unhinged
unhinges
unhinging
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Cite this Entry

“Unhinges.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unhinges. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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