unmoor

verb

un·​moor ˌən-ˈmu̇r How to pronounce unmoor (audio)
unmoored; unmooring; unmoors

transitive verb

: to loosen from or as if from moorings

intransitive verb

: to cast off moorings

Examples of unmoor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The film should be highly disturbing, but the dramatic tension never gels, despite composer Christopher Stacey’s efforts to unmoor us by injecting discordant strings beneath mundane scenes. Peter Debruge, Variety, 18 Feb. 2023 To accommodate Campos’s cavalry, P.S.G. has had to unmoor Leandro Paredes, Ander Herrera, Georginio Wijnaldum, Idrissa Gueye, Julian Draxler, Ángel Di Maria and Xavi Simons this summer, too. Rory Smith, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2022 By Big Tech standards, Netflix has remained a strongly independent company over its 25-year run, spurning big acquisitions and splashy deals that could unmoor its roots. Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 14 July 2022 The German Greens, now part of the country’s ruling coalition, lashed out at previous governments for not working faster to unmoor Germany’s economy from Russian fossil fuels. Washington Post, 21 Apr. 2022 See All Example Sentences for unmoor

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of unmoor was in the 15th century

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Cite this Entry

“Unmoor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unmoor. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

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