unhinged

adjective

un·​hinged ˌən-ˈhinjd 

: highly disturbed, unstable, or distraught

attacked by an unhinged extremist

Somewhere along the way, her pursuit of a hot guy turned into unhinged obsession.

—Cosmopolitan

"Is this a new brand of humour? Or is your brain really unhinged?" inquired Tommy.

—Agatha Christie

see also unhinge

Synonyms of unhinged

• psychotic
• insane
• mad
• maniacal
• crazy
• mental

Examples of unhinged in a Sentence

destined to become one of the nation's most notorious serial killers, he apparently became unhinged as a result of being abandoned as a young teen

Recent Examples on the Web

Besides Hardy’s Alfie Solomons, the other major question in the lead-up to The Immortal Man involved Paul Anderson’s Arthur Shelby, the unhinged, brutish enforcer who loyally served his brother Tommy and the rest of the Peaky Blinders. —Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 23 Mar. 2026

Anybody that’s a person who is losing, is a little bit unhinged, is really fun to to play. —Glenn Garner, Deadline, 22 Mar. 2026

On paper, Gosling’s turn as a CIA operative named Six who is entrusted with protecting a tween girl from an unhinged assassin should be, if not amazing, at least watchable. —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 20 Mar. 2026

In 1977, Finch won for his portrayal of unhinged TV news anchor Howard Beale in the darkly satirical (and sadly prescient) Network. —Maureen Lee Lenker, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1652, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unhinged

• cringed
• fringed
• hinged
• singed
• impinged
• infringed