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unhinged

[uhn-hinjd]

Origin

adjective

having no hinge or hinges, or with the hinges removed: an unhinged gate.

unsettled, disordered, or distraught: He became unhinged when his friend died.

Origin:
1710–20; (def. 1) un-¹ + hinged; (def. 2) unhinge + -ed²

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Unhinged is always a great word to know.

So is quincunx. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged

verb (used with object), -hinged, -hing·ing.

to remove (a door or the like) from hinges.

to open wide by or as if by removing supporting hinges: to unhinge one's jaws.

to upset; unbalance; disorient; throw into confusion or turmoil: to unhinge the mind.

to dislocate or disrupt the normal operation of; unsettle: to unhinge plans.

to detach or separate from something.

EXPAND

to cause to waver or vacillate: to unhinge supporters of conservative policies.

COLLAPSE

Origin:
1605–15; un-² + hinge

Related forms

un·hinge·ment, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To unhinged

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

unhinge

used earlier in the mental sense of "to disorder" the mind, etc. (1612) than in the literal one of "to take (a door, etc.) off its hinges" (1616); from un- (2) + a verb derivative of hinge.

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Related Words

disoriented

unstrung

Matching Quote

"Even people whose lives have been made various by learning, sometimes find it hard to keep a fast hold on their habitual views of life, on their faith in the Invisible—nay, on the sense that their past joys and sorrows are a real experience, when they are suddenly transported to a new land, where by beings around them know nothing of their history, and share none of their ideas—where their mother earth shows another lap, and human life has other forms than those on which their souls have been nourished. Minds that have been unhinged from their old faith and love, have perhaps sought this Lethean influence of exile, in which the past becomes dreamy because its symbols have all vanished, and the present too is dreamy because it is linked with no memories."

-George Eliot

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unhinged

un·hinged

un·hinge