Word.ws English Dictionary

unmasque

unmasque is the archaic spelling 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.

Forms of unmasque

third-person singular presentunmasques
present participleunmasquing
past participleunmasqued
pastunmasqued

Origin of unmasque

From un- + masque.

Questions about unmasque

What is unmasque the archaic spelling of?
Unmasque is the archaic spelling of unmask.

Words near unmasque in the dictionary

  1. unmasks
  2. unmasks one's batteries
  3. unmaskt
  4. unmasochistic
  5. unmasqu'd
  6. unmasque
  7. unmasqueraded
  8. unmassacred
  9. unmassaged
  10. unmassed
  11. unmassive

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: unmasque (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: “unmasque.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/unmasque. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.