unhinged

adjective

un·​hinged ˌən-ˈhinjd 

: highly disturbed, unstable, or distraught

attacked by an unhinged extremist

Somewhere along the way, her pursuit of a hot guy turned into unhinged obsession.

—Cosmopolitan

"Is this a new brand of humour? Or is your brain really unhinged?" inquired Tommy.

—Agatha Christie

see also unhinge

Synonyms of unhinged

• psychotic
• insane
• mad
• maniacal
• crazy
• mental

Examples of unhinged in a Sentence

destined to become one of the nation's most notorious serial killers, he apparently became unhinged as a result of being abandoned as a young teen

Recent Examples on the Web

Our impressively multicultural team of street racers now freelance in the shadowy and complex world of covert ops, jetting around the world to take down an increasingly unhinged array of nihilist supervillains. —Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 29 Apr. 2026

Kay isn’t some kind of unhinged chaos agent or emotional thrill-seeker (well, maybe just a little), but rather an adventurous artist eager to dig deep beneath the surface. —Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 28 Apr. 2026

Sadly, the nation witnessed once again Saturday evening at what should have been the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner what happens when unhinged heated rhetoric stirs up hatred for one’s political opponents. —Chicago Tribune, 28 Apr. 2026

The unhinged left is still in its bubble and as crazy as ever while there are Maher types who now see how this ultimately will turn out at the polls. —Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 27 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1652, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unhinged

• cringed
• fringed
• hinged
• singed
• impinged
• infringed