unwind

C2+ Topic:Entertainment & Leisure

US /ʌnˈwaɪnd/ UK /ʌnˈwaɪnd/ See IPA manual

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to undo something wound; to relax after tension or stress

He liked to unwind with a book after a hard day.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to undo something wound; to... relax loosen uncoil unravel decompress disentangleunspool

Opposites

wind coil tense tighten

Word family

Related forms wind winding

Etymology

From un- ('reversal') plus wind ('to coil'), from Old English windan ('to turn, twist, wind'), from Proto-Germanic *windaną.

un- Old English windan Old English *windaną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Entertainment & Leisure

# unwind

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** ʌnˈwaɪnd
**IPA (UK):** ʌnˈwaɪnd

## Meanings
1. to undo something wound; to relax after tension or stress

## Examples
- He liked to unwind with a book after a hard day.

## Synonyms
- relax
- loosen
- uncoil
- unravel
- decompress
- disentangle
- unspool

## Antonyms
- wind
- coil
- tense
- tighten

## Related Forms
- wind
- winding

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: un-
- Root: windan
- Root: *windaną

## Etymology
From un- ('reversal') plus wind ('to coil'), from Old English windan ('to turn, twist, wind'), from Proto-Germanic *windaną.

## AI Etymology
Unwind comes from un- ('reversal') plus wind ('to coil'), from Old English windan ('to turn, twist, wind'), from Proto-Germanic *windaną. The prefix supplies the first semantic turn, while the base carries the lexical core of the word. As a verb, it means "to undo something wound; to relax after tension or stress", so the modern sense keeps the older action or relation visible. Relevant historical forms include Old English un-, Old English windan, and Proto-Germanic *windaną. Related words include wind, winding.

## Topics
- Entertainment & Leisure

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unwind

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