UNMASK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does unmask mean? 

• UNMASK (verb)
  The verb UNMASK has 2 senses:

1. reveal the true nature of

2. take the mask off

  Familiarity information: UNMASK used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UNMASK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they unmask    ... he / she / it unmasks   
Past simple: unmasked   
Past participle: unmasked   
-ing form: unmasking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Reveal the true nature of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

uncloak; unmask

Context example:

The journal article unmasked the corrupt politician

Hypernyms (to "unmask" is one way to...):

debunk; expose (expose while ridiculing; especially of pretentious or false claims and ideas)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

unmasking (the exposure of an impostor or a fraud)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Take the mask off

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

unmask the imposter

Hypernyms (to "unmask" is one way to...):

expose; uncover (remove all or part of one's clothes to show one's body)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Antonym:

mask (put a mask on or cover with a mask)

Derivation:

unmasking (the exposure of an impostor or a fraud)

 Context examples 

I enjoyed it very much, and when we unmasked it was fun to see them stare at me.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Van Helsing is the man to unmask him and hunt him out, if he is anything like what Mina says.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It can also be characterized by documentation of ECG patterns associated with Brugada Syndrome, some of which may be unmasked when provoked with drugs.

(Brugada Syndrome Ventricular Arrhythmia by ECG Finding, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

It was a very lonely soul, I was to learn, that never unmasked, though at rare moments it played at doing so.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)