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unmake

verb
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un·​make | \ ˌən-ˈmāk How to pronounce unmake (audio) \
unmade\ ˌən-​ˈmād How to pronounce unmake (audio) \; unmaking

Definition of unmake

transitive verb

1 : to cause to disappear : destroy
2 : to deprive of rank or office : depose
3 : to deprive of essential characteristics : change the nature of
Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences Learn More about unmake

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Examples of unmake in a Sentence

a movie studio chief who likes to boast that he can unmake any star in Hollywood if he wishes
Recent Examples on the Web The devices, many of them suspect, also serve to sap the hardiness of a self that could resist and unmake all these other indignities. — Choire Sicha, The New York Review of Books, "I, Phone," 23 Mar. 2021 The Senate has the power to make and unmake such procedures; the Democratic Party could have done away with the filibuster in 2009 and simply chose not to. — Osita Nwanevu, The New Republic, "The Constitution Is the Crisis," 19 Oct. 2020 The choices that make or unmake a life are so small. — Catherine Cusick, Longreads, "25 Movies and the Magazine Stories That Inspired Them," 10 Aug. 2020 And unless decomposers unmake, there isn’t anything that the composers can make with. — Gareth Cook, Scientific American, "A Poetic, Mind-Bending Tour of the Fungal World," 24 June 2020 The forces of erosion act here as a kind of generative impulse, unmaking as inspiration to make. — Leah Ollman, latimes.com, "Gravel, glass and glaze: The radical ceramics of Masaomi Yasunaga," 5 July 2019 Almost as rapidly, a sudden backlash from its many fans nearly unmade it. — The Economist, "Chinese netizens get privacy-conscious," 7 Sep. 2019 Donald Trump is almost universally condemned for unmaking the liberal international order that has helped to keep the peace and generate unprecedented prosperity. — Gerard Baker, WSJ, "As Europe Condemns Trump, Asia Takes a More Realistic View," 22 Feb. 2019 But Trump got to Washington by promising to unmake the political ecosystem, eradicating the existing species and populating it anew. — Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, "Trump vs. the “Deep State”," 14 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'unmake.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of unmake

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Time Traveler for unmake

Time Traveler

The first known use of unmake was in the 15th century

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Statistics for unmake

Last Updated

30 Mar 2021

Cite this Entry

“Unmake.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unmake. Accessed 7 May. 2021.

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