Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to unsay
Participle: unsaid
Gerund: unsaying
Indicative
Present
| I | unsay |
| you | unsay |
| he;she;it | unsays |
| we | unsay |
| you | unsay |
| they | unsay |
Perfect
| I | have unsaid |
| you | have unsaid |
| he;she;it | has unsaid |
| we | have unsaid |
| you | have unsaid |
| they | have unsaid |
Past
| I | unsaid |
| you | unsaid |
| he;she;it | unsaid |
| we | unsaid |
| you | unsaid |
| they | unsaid |
Pluperfect
| I | had unsaid |
| you | had unsaid |
| he;she;it | had unsaid |
| we | had unsaid |
| you | had unsaid |
| they | had unsaid |
Future
| I | will unsay |
| you | will unsay |
| he;she;it | will unsay |
| we | will unsay |
| you | will unsay |
| they | will unsay |
Future Perfect
| I | will have unsaid |
| you | will have unsaid |
| he;she;it | will have unsaid |
| we | will have unsaid |
| you | will have unsaid |
| they | will have unsaid |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | unsay |
| you | unsay |
| he;she;it | unsay |
| we | unsay |
| you | unsay |
| they | unsay |
Perfect
| I | have unsaid |
| you | have unsaid |
| he;she;it | have unsaid |
| we | have unsaid |
| you | have unsaid |
| they | have unsaid |
Imperfect
| I | unsaid |
| you | unsaid |
| he;she;it | unsaid |
| we | unsaid |
| you | unsaid |
| they | unsaid |
Pluperfect
| I | had unsaid |
| you | had unsaid |
| he;she;it | had unsaid |
| we | had unsaid |
| you | had unsaid |
| they | had unsaid |
Conditional
Present
| I | would unsay |
| you | would unsay |
| he;she;it | would unsay |
| we | would unsay |
| you | would unsay |
| they | would unsay |
Perfect
| I | would have unsaid |
| you | would have unsaid |
| he;she;it | would have unsaid |
| we | would have unsaid |
| you | would have unsaid |
| they | would have unsaid |
Imperative
| you | unsay |
| we | Let's unsay |
| you | unsay |
Verbs conjugated like 'unsay'
againsay,
appay,
assay,
belay,
enlay,
forelay,
foresay,
forlay,
forsay,
gainsay,
inlay,
interlay,
lay,
mislay,
mispay,
missay,
outlay,
outstay,
overlay,
overpay, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'unsay'
unbay,
ungay,
unlay,
unpay,
unstay,
assay,
besay,
enlay,
ensky,
essay,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- retract something said
- recant
- to withdraw or repudiate a statement or opinion formerly expressed
- abjure, disavow, disown, eat one's words, recall, recant, retract, revoke, swallow, take back, unspeak, withcall, withdraw
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
From Middle English unseyen, unseien, from Old English onseċġan (“to deny, renounce”), from Proto-West Germanic *andasaggjan (“to unsay, renounce, deny”), equivalent to un- + say. Cognate with Dutch ontzeggen (“to deny”), German entsagen (“to renounce, abjure”). See: Dutch '
ontzeggen', German, old spelling '
entsagen'.
Sample Sentences
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And in the first place, you will be so good as to unsay that story about selling his head, which if true I take to be good evidence that this harpooneer is stark mad […] [1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:]
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I wish I could unsay that.
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There are some things I'd like to unsay... to my boss... right before he decided to fire me.
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Certainly if Chriſts Apoſtle have ſet down but two, then according to his own words, though he himſelf ſhuld unſay it, and not only the Angel of Smyrna, but an Angel from Heaven ſhould bear us down that there be three, Saint Paul has doom'd him twiſe, Let him be accurſt [...] [1641 June or July, John Milton, Of Prelatical Episcopacy, and Whether It may be Deduc’d from the Apostolical Times by Virtue of Those Testimonies which are Alledg’d to that Purpose in Some Late Treatises; […]; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, […], volume I, Amsterdam [actually London: s.n.], 1698, →OCLC, page 247:]
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Unsay those haunting words. [1918, Algernon Blackwood, Karma, →ISBN, page 58:]