Meanings
undo1
present singular third person undoes · participle present undoing · past undid · participle past undone
- transitiveTo reverse the effects of an action.
What's done can't be undone.
4 more examples
Fortunately, we can undo most of the damage to the system by the war.
Pro.[…]it was a torment / To lay vpon the damn'd, which Sycorax / Could not againe vndoe ; it was mine Art, / When I arriu'd, and heard thee, that made gape / The Pyne, and let thee out.
1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 4But Wigan undid their good work by conceding an avoidable second goal deep into first-half injury time.
2011 October 15, Michael Da Silva, “Wigan 1 - 3 Bolton”, in BBC SportAnd judging by how well the progressive and youth-favoured party did, many observers suspect this latest round of legal charges are a response to Future Forward's commitment to undo the legacy of military rule and undertake democratic reforms.
2019 April 6, Caleb Quinley, “Thailand: Anti-military party leader faces sedition charges”, in Al Jazeera, Doha: Al Jazeera, retrieved 06 Apr 2019 - figurativelytransitiveTo impoverish or ruin, as in reputation; to cause the downfall of.
Woe is me, for I am undone!
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC
plural undos
- transitivecomputingAn operation that reverses a previous action.
How many undos does this program support?
undo2
- misspellingtransitiveMisspelling of undue.
Synonyms & antonyms
antonym(s) of “reverse effects”
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-West Germanic*andadōn“to undo”
- Old Englishondōn
- Middle Englishundōn
- Englishundo
From Middle English undōn, from Old English ondōn, from Proto-West Germanic *andadōn (“to undo”), equivalent to un- + do. Cognate with West Frisian ûndwaan, ûntdwaan (“to undo; rid”), Dutch ontdoen (“to undo”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque askatu
- askatuto unfasten
Bulgarian отменям, връщам обратно
- отменям (otmenjam)to reverse
- връщам обратно (vrăštam obratno)to reverse
- отварям (otvarjam)to unfasten
- развързвам (razvărzvam)to unfasten
Catalan desfer
- desferto reverse
Chinese Mandarin 復原 /复原, 重做
- 復原 /复原 (fùyuán)to reverse
- 重做 (chóngzuò)to reverse
- 解開 /解开 (jiěkāi)to unfasten
Czech odčinit, navrátit
- odčinitto reverse
- navrátitto reverse
Dutch ongedaan maken, tenietdoen
- ongedaan makento reverse
- tenietdoento reverse
- ontdoento reverse
- losmakento unfasten
Esperanto malfari
- malfarito reverse
Finnish kumota, avata
- kumotato reverse
- avatato unfasten
- irrottaato unfasten
French annuler, défaire
- annulerto reverse
- défaireto reverse
- défaireto unfasten
- délierto unfasten
German rückgängig machen, ungeschehen machen
- rückgängig machento reverse
- ungeschehen machento reverse
- aufmachento unfasten
- öffnento unfasten
- losmachento unfasten
- lösento unfasten
- abschnallento unfasten
Hindi उधेड़ना
- उधेड़ना (udheṛnā)to reverse
Hungarian visszavon, visszaállít
- visszavonto reverse
- visszaállítto reverse
- helyreállítto reverse
- jóváteszto reverse
- visszacsinálto reverse
- meg nem történtté teszto reverse
- kinyitto unfasten
- kigombolto unfasten
- kikapcsolto unfasten
- kikötto unfasten
- kifűzto unfasten
- kibontto unfasten
- visszavonásan operation that reverses a previous action
- visszaállításan operation that reverses a previous action
Irish scaoil
- scaoilto unfasten
Italian annullare, disfare
- annullareto reverse
- disfareto reverse
- slacciareto unfasten
Japanese 戻す, 取り消す
- 戻す (modosu)to reverse
- 取り消す (torikesu)to reverse
- はずす (hazusu)to unfasten
- ほどく (hodoku)to unfasten
- 解く (toku)to unfasten
Latin abrogo, destruo
- abrogoto reverse
- destruoto reverse
Māori whakakore, wete
- whakakoreto reverse
- weteto unfasten
- weteweteto unfasten
- weweteto unfasten
- whakamatarato unfasten
- mahenoto unfasten
Norwegian rette opp, angre
- rette oppto reverse
- angreto reverse
- løsneto unfasten
Portuguese desfazer, desatar
- desfazerto reverse
- desatarto unfasten
Romanian desface, desface
- desfaceto reverse
- desfaceto unfasten
Russian отменя́ть, отмени́ть
- отменя́ть (otmenjátʹ)to reverse
- отмени́ть (otmenítʹ)to reverse
- возвраща́ть (vozvraščátʹ)to reverse
- верну́ть (vernútʹ)to reverse
- расстёгивать (rasstjógivatʹ)to unfasten
- расстегну́ть (rasstegnútʹ)to unfasten
- развя́зывать (razvjázyvatʹ)to unfasten
- развяза́ть (razvjazátʹ)to unfasten
- отмена (otmena)an operation that reverses a previous action
- возврат (vozvrat)an operation that reverses a previous action
Scottish Gaelic neo-dhèan, fuasgail
- neo-dhèanto reverse
- fuasgailto unfasten
Spanish deshacer, desfacer
- deshacerto reverse
- desfacerto reverse
- dirimirto reverse
Swedish ångra
- ångrato reverse
Turkish geri almak, çözmek
- geri almakto reverse
- çözmekto unfasten
Vietnamese hoàn tác
- hoàn tácto reverse
Welsh dad-wneud, datod
- dad-wneudto reverse
- datodto unfasten
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with undo
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
undo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/undo
“undo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/undo. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “undo,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/undo.
Source: undo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.