unhinged

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

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

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Collins

World English Dictionary

unhinge (ʌnˈhɪndʒ)

—vb
1.	to remove (a door, gate, etc) from its hinges
2.	to derange or unbalance (a person, his mind, etc)
3.	to disrupt or unsettle (a process or state of affairs)
4.	(usually foll by from) to detach or dislodge

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

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.

Example sentences

Many have become unhinged by the interpretive power of a simple idea.

Adults have a domed carapace and relatively flat, unhinged plastron.

If central bankers allow inflation expectations to become unhinged, they will

have a nasty, protracted problem on their hands.

She is at various times feisty, witty, vapid and unhinged.

Enjoy Dictionary.com ad-free! Learn more

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