Word.ws English Dictionary

unmasking

unmasking is the present participle and gerund of unmask.

Meaning of unmask

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.
    • 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...
  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.
    • […] 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.
    • 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.

Noun

unmasking (plural unmaskings)

  1. The act by which somebody or something is unmasked.
    • regular unmaskings of criminals

Forms of unmasking

pluralunmaskings

Words formed from unmasking

Phrases with unmasking

Questions about unmasking

What does unmasking mean?
Unmasking means the act by which somebody or something is unmasked.
What is unmasking the present participle and gerund of?
Unmasking is the present participle and gerund of unmask.
What part of speech is unmasking?
Unmasking is a noun.
What is the plural of unmasking?
The plural of unmasking is unmaskings.

Words near unmasking in the dictionary

  1. unmaskable
  2. unmasked
  3. unmasked one's batteries
  4. unmasker
  5. unmaskers
  6. unmasking
  7. unmasking one's batteries
  8. unmaskings
  9. unmasks
  10. unmasks one's batteries
  11. unmaskt

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: unmasking (page history and authors); unmask (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “unmasking.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/unmasking. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.