Meanings
present singular third person unlearns · participle present unlearning · participle past unlearned · past unlearned · participle past unlearnt · past unlearnt
- transitiveTo discard the knowledge of.
It is a language that, once learnt, I have been unable to unlearn.
2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 2311 more example
It was another lesson from Fort Hare that I had to unlearn in Johannesburg.
1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 80
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Middle Englishunlernen
- Englishunlearn
From Middle English unlernen. By surface analysis, un- + learn.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan desaprendre
- desaprendreto discard the knowledge of
Chinese Mandarin 揚棄 /扬弃
- 揚棄 /扬弃 (yángqì)to discard the knowledge of
Dutch afleren, verleren
- aflerento discard the knowledge of
- verlerento discard the knowledge of
- afwennento break a habit
Esperanto mallerni
- mallernito discard the knowledge of
Finnish unohtaa, unohtaa opittu
- unohtaato discard the knowledge of
- unohtaa opittuto discard the knowledge of
French désapprendre
- désapprendreto discard the knowledge of
German verlernen
- verlernento discard the knowledge of
Italian disimparare
- disimparareto discard the knowledge of
Latin dēdiscō
- dēdiscōto discard the knowledge of
Polish oduczyć się
- oduczyć sięto discard the knowledge of
Portuguese desaprender
- desaprenderto discard the knowledge of
Russian разу́чиваться, разучи́ться
- разу́чиваться (razúčivatʹsja)to discard the knowledge of
- разучи́ться (razučítʹsja)to discard the knowledge of
- оту́чиваться (otúčivatʹsja)to discard the knowledge of
- отучи́ться (otučítʹsja)to discard the knowledge of
Spanish desaprender
- desaprenderto discard the knowledge of
Turkish unutmak
- unutmakto discard the knowledge of
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with unlearn
Anagrams
Cite this entry
unlearn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unlearn
“unlearn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unlearn. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unlearn,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unlearn.
Source: unlearn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.