unmask

English

Alternative forms

• unmasque (archaic)
• un-mask

Etymology

From un- +‎ mask.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈmæsk/, /ʌnˈmɑːsk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈmæsk/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æsk

Verb

unmask (third-person singular simple present unmasks, present participle unmasking, simple past and past participle unmasked)

1. (transitive) To remove a mask from someone.
2. (transitive) To expose, or reveal the true character of someone.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke:  (First Quarto), London: [Valentine Simmes] for N L and Iohn Trundell, published 1603, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], lines 35–36:

     The Charieſt maide is prodigall enough, / If ſhe vnmaske hir beautie to the Moone.

3. (intransitive) To remove one's mask.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:

     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.

4. (intransitive) To cease engaging in masking, to cease disguising one's autism.
   • 2019, Sarah Cobbe, Simple Autism Strategies for Home and School: Practical Tips, Resources and Poetry, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, →ISBN, page 49:

     […] to unmask and to assume her 'natural' role (rather than her 'fitting in' role).

   • 2019, Barry Carpenter, Francesca Happé, Jo Egerton, Girls and Autism: Educational, Family and Personal Perspectives, Routledge, →ISBN, page 172:

     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].

5. (transitive, military, dated) To expose something that was concealed or shielded from an enemy.
   • 1893, Theodore Ayrault Dodge, Hannibal: a History of the Art of War Among the Carthaginians and Romans , page 156:

     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.

   • 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:

     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.

6. (transitive, computing) To enable (an interrupt, etc.) by unsetting or setting the associated bit.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Kumans, maskun