Unshape

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To cause something to lose its original form or contour; to deform an object so that it no longer retains its intended shape; to alter the structure of a material or item resulting in a misshapen appearance
2. To change the natural or designed outline of a thing by distorting or bending it out of its usual shape; to make an object lose its recognizable form or configuration; to disrupt the normal pattern or arrangement of parts causing deformation
3. To transform a solid figure by removing or modifying its shape, causing it to lose its standard outline; to render a previously shaped item irregular or altered in form; to affect the physical geometry of an object so that it no longer fits its original design

Etymology: "Unshape" is a plain formation: the prefix "un-" attached to "shape." The prefix "un-" is an Old English element that reverses or negates the action of a verb, so "unshape" literally means to undo a shape, to take away the form something had. Shape itself comes from Old English "gesceapu" and the verb "scieppan," meaning to create or form, so the word is built on the idea of forming a thing and then reversing that formation. The sense here is not limited to tidying up a form. It describes bending or distorting something until it no longer shows its intended outline, whether a sculpture, a machine, or the arrangement of its parts. The word works best when the reversal is physical and visible, the moment a thing stops looking the way it was designed to look.

Synonyms: deform, distort, disfigure, misshape, contort

Antonyms: shape, form, mold, fashion, structure