Unwig
verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 To remove a wig from. transitive
"Painter. Sir, ’Squire Lumpkin, the little, round, fine gentleman, employ’d me to paint white wigs, upon all the pictures, at half-a-crown a head. […] Tony. Can you unwig ’em again?"
- 2 To remove (someone) from a position marked by the wearing of a wig, such as that of barrister or judge. transitive
"1844, Charles Waterton, “The Wren, the Hedge-Sparrow, and the Robin” in Essays on Natural History, Chiefly Ornithology, Second Series, London: Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans, p. 96, […] only the other day, in Dublin, a high dignitary of the law did exhibit such palpable partiality in a cause of “Victoria versus Repeal,” that he ought to have been unwigged there and then, and banished for ever from that arena of marked injustice to poor ould Ireland, and her patriot sons."
- 3 To take off one's wig. intransitive
"The man is a good female impersonator, with a deceptive voice. He handles himself well and is a good dresser. No one in the line ever got more from removing the wig than does this man, who uses good judgment in selecting the proper moment to unwig."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Painter. Sir, ’Squire Lumpkin, the little, round, fine gentleman, employ’d me to paint white wigs, upon all the pictures, at half-a-crown a head. […] Tony. Can you unwig ’em again?"
Etymology
From un- + wig.