What does unstrung mean?
Unstrung most commonly describes someone who has become emotionally upset, nervous, or unsettled. It suggests a person whose composure has loosened under stress, as in “the news left him unstrung.” The word also has a literal, musical meaning: an instrument may be unstrung when its strings have been removed, detached, or left slack for repair or adjustment. This older physical sense provides the metaphor behind the emotional use, in which a person is imagined as losing the tension or control that keeps them steady. Unstrung is related to the verb unstring, meaning to remove or loosen the strings of an instrument, and to the past participle unstrung. It is a vivid and somewhat literary term, especially familiar in British and American English, and is often more expressive than simply saying that someone is upset.
Emotionally upset, nervous, or unsettled; in a literal or technical sense, having had its strings loosened or removed.
"The criticism left him unstrung and unable to continue."
The emotional sense is dominant in modern usage; the literal sense is most often used of stringed instruments.
To remove the strings from, or loosen the strings of, a musical instrument.
"The technician unstrung the violin before repairing its neck."
This is a relatively uncommon technical or historical verb form, now largely encountered as the past tense and past participle of unstring.
A word for both a violin with slackened strings and a person whose nerves have slipped loose.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Words that share this root
Related word forms
How unstrung is actually used
The emotional sense is the most common today and is often used predicatively, as in “leave someone unstrung.” The literal sense is chiefly technical or historical and usually refers to a stringed instrument.
Easily confused with unstrung
“Unstrung” means emotionally unsettled or, literally, deprived of strings; it is not the same as “unstung,” which is not a standard English word.