unlearn

[ uhn-lurn ]

verb (used with object)

1. to forget or lose knowledge of.
2. to discard or put aside certain knowledge as being false or binding:

   to unlearn preconceptions.

verb (used without object)

1. to lose or discard knowledge.

unlearn

/ ʌnˈlɜːn /

verb

1. to try to forget (something learnt) or to discard (accumulated knowledge)

Word History and Origins

Origin of unlearn¹

First recorded in 1400–50, unlearn is from the late Middle English word unlernen. See un- ², learn

Example Sentences

Our fear of the old boys' club must be unlearned.

From Salon

Hawken’s book is a lesson in what’s sometimes called “unlearning,” or letting go of old assumptions, like the idea that nature is something to fix or control.

From Salon

I had to unlearn the muscle memory of taking people to a poignant place and then relieving that tension with a punch line.

From Los Angeles Times

Ross invites us to unlearn the complacent strictures of cinema he never bothered to absorb.

From Los Angeles Times

Whether they faced physical abuse or not, the estranged children who spoke with Salon mostly spoke of a long process of unlearning the worldview in which they had been raised.

From Salon