Dictionary

unmask en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ʌnˈmæsk/ (UK)
• /ʌnˈmɑːsk/ (UK)
• /ʌnˈmæsk/ (US)

Etymology

From un- + mask. Compare typologically reveal (see more).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To remove a mask from someone.
2. (transitive) To expose, or reveal the true character of someone.
   • The Charieſt maide is prodigall enough, / If ſhe vnmaske hir beautie to the Moone. c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and Iohn Trundell, published 1603, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], lines 35–36:
3. (intransitive) To remove one's mask.
   • But instead of a direct answer to so important a question, Jones began to be very importunate with the lady to unmask; and at length having prevailed, there appeared not Mrs Fitzpatrick, but the Lady Bellaston herself. 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:
4. (intransitive) To cease engaging in masking, to cease disguising one's autism.
   • Autistic females are trying to adhere to social expectations placed upon them, and masking and blending to fit those expectations, […] How do you unmask when you have spent a [long time masking]. 2019, Barry Carpenter, Francesca Happé, Jo Egerton, Girls and Autism: Educational, Family and Personal Perspectives, Routledge, →ISBN, page 172:
   • […] to unmask and to assume her 'natural' role (rather than her 'fitting in' role). 2019, Sarah Cobbe, Simple Autism Strategies for Home and School: Practical Tips, Resources and Poetry, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, →ISBN, page 49:
5. (dated, transitive) To expose something that was concealed or shielded from an enemy.
   • In less than an hour the batteries were unmasked. The Confederate works were visible and at 5:08 a.m., Seymour ordered the batteries to commence firing. 2021, Stephen R. Wise, “To Capture an Island: Amphibious Operations in the Department of the South, 1861–1863”, in Theodore P. Savas, editor, Charleston: Battles and Seacoast Operations, page 10:
   • He recalled his horse. This, retiring, unmasked the heavy infantry, which Hannibal called in from either flank and sent with a vigorous élan in close column across the ford against the ill-arrayed barbarians, followed by the cavalry, which had formed again in its rear. 1893, Theodore Ayrault Dodge, Hannibal: a History of the Art of War Among the Carthaginians and Romans […] , page 156:
6. (transitive) To enable (an interrupt, etc.) by unsetting or setting the associated bit.

Forms

Deriveds

unmasker · unmask one's batteries

Translations (54)

cs sundat masku (to remove one's mask) · cs sundat masku (to remove a mask from someone) · pt desmascarar (to expose the true character of someone) · cs sundat masku (to expose the true character of someone) · cs odhalit (to expose the true character of someone) · pl zrzucić maskę (to remove a mask from someone) · es demostrar (to expose the true character of someone) · nl ontmaskeren (to expose the true character of someone) · eo senmaskiĝi (to remove one's mask) · cs demaskovat (to expose the true character of someone) · it scoprire (to expose the true character of someone) · bg свалям маската (to remove a mask from someone) · it smascherare (to expose the true character of someone) · es descubrir (to expose the true character of someone) · sv avmaskera (to expose the true character of someone) · eo senmaskigi (to remove a mask from someone) · sh raskrinkati (to expose the true character of someone) · es revelar (to expose the true character of someone) · pl zrzucić maskę (to remove one's mask) · fr démasquer (to expose the true character of someone) · hy դիմակազերծել (to expose the true character of someone) · pl zrzucić maskę (to expose the true character of someone) · it smascherarsi (to remove one's mask) · fi paljastaa (kasvonsa) (to remove one's mask) · sv avmaskera (to remove a mask from someone) · cs ukázat pravou tvář (to expose the true character of someone) · cy datguddio (to expose the true character of someone) · tr Birisinin maskesini düşürmek (to remove a mask from someone) · fr se démasquer (to remove one's mask) · fi paljastaa (to expose the true character of someone) · cs odmaskovat (to remove a mask from someone) · bg разобличавам (to expose the true character of someone) · fr démasquer (to remove a mask from someone) · tr Birisinin maskesini düşürmek (to remove one's mask) · es desenmascararse (to remove one's mask) · eo senmaskigi (to expose the true character of someone) · fi paljastaa (to remove a mask from someone) · cs prozradit (to expose the true character of someone) · nl ontmaskeren (to remove a mask from someone) · fr révéler (to expose the true character of someone) · ca desemmascarar (to remove a mask from someone) · cs odmaskovat se (to remove one's mask) · ca desemmascarar-se (to remove one's mask) · es desenmascarar (to remove a mask from someone) · cy tynnu masg (to remove a mask from someone) · ca desemmascarar (to expose the true character of someone) · cs strhnout masku (to expose the true character of someone) · it palesare (to expose the true character of someone) · sh raskrinkati (to remove a mask from someone) · gl desenmascarar (to remove a mask from someone) · cy tynnu masg (to remove one's mask) · it smascherare (to remove a mask from someone) · sv ta av sin mask (to remove one's mask) · fr dévoiler (to expose the true character of someone)