Meaning & use
unbend
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Meanings
verbintransitive
to become less strict or serious in your behavior and allow yourself to relax with other people.
Grammar: No object; often used with a little or a bit, or followed by and + verb.
Patterns
- unbend a little
- unbend and enjoy something
After the meeting, the manager unbent a little and told us a joke.
He rarely unbends, even at office parties.
She finally unbent and joined the dancing.
verbtransitiverare
to make something straight again after it has been bent.
Grammar: Takes an object: unbend the wire. This sense is less common than the 'relax' sense.
Patterns
- unbend something
He carefully unbent the metal rod with pliers.
The frame was bent in the crash, and we could not unbend it.
Word forms
| third person singular | unbends |
|---|---|
| past tense | unbent |
| past participle | unbent |
| -ing form | unbending |
Common combinations
- unbend a little
- The boss unbent a little after the project succeeded.
- refuse to unbend
- She refused to unbend, even when everyone else was laughing.
- unbend enough to do something
- He never unbends enough to chat with the staff.
Synonyms and how they differ
- relax
- Relax is the general word for becoming calm or less tense; unbend specifically suggests dropping a stiff, formal manner.
- soften
- Soften means becoming less severe or harsh, often about a person's attitude; unbend is more about becoming friendly and informal.
- loosen up
- Loosen up is informal and often used in commands; unbend is more formal and usually describes a gradual change.
Opposites
Word family
- unbending adjective
- refusing to change your decisions or opinions; strict and inflexible
- bend verb
- to make something curved or angled, or to become curved
Commonly confused: unbend or bend?
unbend vs bend
Bend means to make something curved; unbend means to make it straight again or to relax your manner. The prefix un- reverses the action.
Practice
After weeks of tension, the director finally ______ and laughed with the crew.
Choose one answer.
The past tense of unbend is unbent, and it fits the finished past action. 'Unbended' is not the standard past form; 'unbending' would need an auxiliary like was, and 'unbends' is present tense, which clashes with the past time in the sentence.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “unbend”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.