unhinge
/ʌnˈhɪn(d)ʒ
/verb (unhinges, unhinging, unhinged) [with object]
1Make (someone) mentally unbalanced: the loneliness had nearly unhinged him...
- Glenn Close is an actress with five Academy Award nominations under her belt, one of which is for the role for which I will always remember her: the mentally unhinged mistress in Fatal Attraction.
- Meanwhile, a mentally unhinged former lover is stalking her, and the serial killer has struck again.
- Born of the Great Depression, the brothers were unhinged maniacs with no roots, no ties, no responsibilities, fighting back on behalf of the disenfranchised little man.
Synonyms
deranged, demented, unbalanced, out of one's mind, crazed, mad, insane;
lunatic, manic, maniac, berserk, disturbed, distracted, confused;
British sectionable
informal crazy, mental, potty, bonkers, bats, batty, loopy, bananas, touched, out to lunch, off one's head, off one's rocker
1.1Deprive of stability; throw into disorder: a chain of events unhinges the structure of his family...
- Our grab for dominating the world's strategic petroleum reserves is now unhinging world stability, and I think other countries recognize this and are getting fearful and angry as well.
- Placing both hands under the clasp, he used his remaining energy to unhinge it and throw the top of the box up.
- The one event that could unhinge the party's best efforts to retain financial and political control is a run on the RMB.
2Take (a door) off its hinges.By pulling it, he'd not only cracked the plank in half, he'd unhinged the door itself....
- He shoots the door knob clean off the door and he kicks the door forward with all his strength, which nearly unhinges the door.
- It was always a stunning room, a gleaming subterranean box of pale lacquer and smoked mirrors with a set of Lalique doors you'd unhinge and run off with in the middle of the night if you thought you could get away with it.