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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

undo.

To reverse the effects of an action.

4 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ʌnˈduː/UK, US
  1. To reverse the effects of an action.

    transitive
    Fortunately, we can undo most of the damage to the system by the war.
    What's done can't be undone.
  2. To unfasten.

    transitive
    Could you undo my buckle for me?
  3. To unfasten the clothing of (a person).

    colloquial · transitive
  4. To impoverish or ruin, as in reputation; to cause the downfall of.

    figuratively · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English undōn, from Old English ondōn, from Proto-West Germanic *andadōn (“to undo”), equivalent to un- + do. Cognate with West Frisian ûndwaan, ûntdwaan (“to undo; rid”), Dutch ontdoen (“to undo”).

noun/ʌnˈduː/UK, US
  1. An operation that reverses a previous action.

    transitive
    How many undos does this program support?
Where this word comes from

From Middle English undōn, from Old English ondōn, from Proto-West Germanic *andadōn (“to undo”), equivalent to un- + do. Cognate with West Frisian ûndwaan, ûntdwaan (“to undo; rid”), Dutch ontdoen (“to undo”).

adj/ʌnˈduː/UK, US
  1. Misspelling of undue.

    alt-of · misspelling · transitive
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.