unthink

unthink

English

Etymology

un- +‎ think

Verb

unthink (third-person singular simple present unthinks, present participle unthinking, simple past and past participle unthought)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To undo the process of thinking.
   • 1930, G. K. Chesterton, The Resurrection of Rome

     They at least had the immense and mighty imagination of which I speak; they could unthink the past. They could uncreate the Fall. With a reverence which moderns might think impudence, they could uncreate the Creation.

   • 1993, Henning F Harmuth, Information Theory Applied to Space-time Physics:

     But to do so consistently would require a fairly radical revision of the concept. We should have to unthink as far back as Aristotle […]

   • 2006, Kirsten Shepherd-Barr, Science on Stage: From Doctor Faustus to Copenhagen

     In An Experiment with an Air-Pump, characters repeatedly assert that "once you've thought something, you can't unthink it, can you?"

   • 2019, Margaret Atwood, The Testaments, →ISBN, page 333:

     "You must learn to edit your thoughts," she said. "Unthink them..."

See also

• unring