unspell

U1N1S1P3E1L1L1
/ʌnˈspɛl/

verb

To break the power of (a spell); to release (a person) from the influence of a spell; to disenchant.

Opposite
Scrabble 9

Meanings

verbunspell (third-person singular simple present unspells, present participle unspelling, simple past and past participle unspelled)

present singular third person unspells · participle present unspelling · participle past unspelled · past unspelled

  1. transitiveTo break the power of (a spell); to release (a person) from the influence of a spell; to disenchant.

    Such practices as Theſe, too groſs to lye / Long unobſerv'd by each diſcerning Eye, / The more judicious Iſraelites Unſpell'd, / Though ſtill the Charm the giddy Rabble held, […]

    1682, [Nahum Tate; John Dryden], The Second Part of Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 5
    1 more example

    If Burd Ellen had gone “widishins" round the church, she would, I think, have used the best homoeopathic specific against the Elf-King's power; for "to go widishins" was the chief element in elfin practices, and if mortals wished to resist or unspell elf-craft, they, too, had "to go widershins," or they had to repeat the Paternoster backwards, which came to the same thing, or do something else contrariwise.

    1891 January 3, I. Gollancz, “Widishins”, in The Academy, London, page 14, column 3

Synonyms & antonyms

verbrelease from a spell

Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

unspell. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unspell

MLA

“unspell.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unspell. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unspell,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unspell.

Source: unspell on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.