verb
Meaning 1
To withdraw, retract (something said).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
unsay
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
verb
Meaning 2
To cause something not to have been said; to make it so that one never said something (since this is physically impossible, usually in the subjunctive).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- I wish I could unsay that.
- There are some things I'd like to unsay... to my boss... right before he decided to fire me.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
take back what one has said
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- He swallowed his words
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: swallow, take back, withdraw
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: disown, renounce, repudiate
History
Etymology
From Middle English unseyen, unseien, from Old English onseċġan (“to deny, renounce”), from Proto-West Germanic *andasaggjan (“to unsay, renounce, deny”), equivalent to un- + say. Cognate with Dutch ontzeggen (“to deny”), German entsagen (“to renounce, abjure”).
Across languages
Translations
4 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Serbo-Croatian: poništiti izrečeno — to withdraw something said
- Serbo-Croatian: poreći — to withdraw something said
- Serbo-Croatian: povući izrečeno — to withdraw something said
- Esperanto: maldiri — cause not to have been said