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Meaning & use

unmoored

adjective, verb·Advancedliterary

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UK/ʌnˈmɔːd/
US/ʌnˈmɔːrd/

Meanings

  1. adjectiveafter a verbfigurative

    Feeling cut off from your usual sources of stability, purpose or direction.

    Grammar: Usually follows feel or become: she felt unmoored.

    Patterns

    • unmoored from something
    • feel unmoored

    After losing his job and moving away, he felt unmoored.

    The sudden change left the team unmoored and unsure of its goals.

    Retirement can leave some people unmoored.

  2. adjectivecomparabletechnical

    Released from the ropes or anchor that held a boat in place, and so free to drift.

    Grammar: Used about boats or ships: an unmoored boat.

    Patterns

    • an unmoored boat

    The unmoored boat drifted slowly out of the harbor.

    The storm snapped the ropes, and the unmoored yacht crashed into the pier.

  3. verbtransitivetechnical

    Past tense and past participle of unmoor, meaning to release a boat from its mooring.

    Grammar: Takes an object: they unmoored the boat.

    Patterns

    • unmoor a boat

    The crew unmoored the ferry at dawn.

    He unmoored the dinghy and rowed out.

Common combinations

feel unmoored
After the move, she felt unmoored.
unmoored from reality
His theories seemed unmoored from reality.
emotionally unmoored
The loss left him emotionally unmoored.
an unmoored boat
An unmoored boat drifted past.
politically unmoored
Voters felt politically unmoored after the party collapsed.

Synonyms and how they differ

adrift
Adrift is close in meaning and also literal for boats, but it can describe simple drifting without the idea of having lost a firm base.
rootless
Rootless focuses on lacking a home or community, while unmoored is about lost stability or direction.
disoriented
Disoriented means confused about where you are or what is happening, which is more about confusion than about lost connection.
unanchored
Unanchored is the plain literal counterpart and sounds less poetic than unmoored.

Opposites

groundedanchoredstable

Word family

moor verb
to fasten a boat to the land or the bottom
mooring noun
a place or rope where a boat is fastened
unmoor verb
to release a boat from its mooring
moored adjective
tied up in a fixed place

Commonly confused: unmoored or unmoved?

unmoored vs unmoved

Unmoved means not affected emotionally or not changing position, while unmoored means cut loose or lacking stability.

Practice

After graduating, Ana felt unmoored. What does this most likely mean?

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