Unplugged

How to spell unplugged

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce unplugged

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unplugged mean?

1. verbPast tense of unplug: disconnected a device by pulling out its plug or cable.
2. adjectivePerformed on acoustic instruments rather than amplified electric ones.

Unplugged in a sentence

• verb

  She unplugged the printer before moving it to the new desk.

• adjective

  The band recorded an unplugged version of their biggest hit for the radio show.

• verb

  He unplugged the router and waited a minute before reconnecting it.

• adjective

  Fans queued for hours to hear the singer's rare unplugged set.

Where does unplugged come from?

Language of origin: Dutch

The core word here is 'plug', which English borrowed in the seventeenth century from Dutch and Low German 'plugge', meaning a peg or stopper used to fill a hole. It originally named a wooden bung that sealed a barrel or a gap, and only in the late nineteenth century did it stretch to mean the fitting that connects an electrical device to a socket. The prefix 'un-' is a native Old English element meaning 'reverse' or 'undo', so to 'unplug' is literally to take out the stopper or pull out the connector. The doubled 'g' in 'unplugged' follows the regular English rule that a short stressed vowel before a single final consonant doubles that consonant when '-ed' is added, the same pattern seen in 'tagged' and 'hugged'. In the late twentieth century the word also took on a musical sense, made famous by acoustic 'unplugged' concerts where electric instruments were set aside.

How the word is built

• un- (reverse, undo)
• plug (stopper/connector)
• -ged (past tense and participle ending)