unbecome

English

Etymology

From un- +‎ become.

Verb

unbecome (third-person singular simple present unbecomes, present participle unbecoming, simple past unbecame, past participle unbecome)

(obsolete, transitive) To misbecome.
- a. 1753, Thomas Sherlock, Discourse VII preached at the Temple Church:
  […] he refrains from those freedoms which the world judges unbecoming his character, though harmless in themselves […]
(copulative) To become not, especially when one was previously not before a process of becoming what one currently is.
- 1979 December 29, Carrie Dearborn, “Uncontrolled Fantasy”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 23, page 15:
  Jess has some fun with her powers, and she does learn from her mistakes. This is all very nice, but she does not un-become a witch at the end of the book; thus the story slips out of the realm of fantasy and bumps its way into some as yet undefined category.
- 2001 September, Jane Hindman, “Making Writing Matter: Using "the Personal" to Recover[y] an Essential[ist] Tension in Academic Discourse”, in College English, volume 64, number 1, page 90:
  I "became" a drunk only because of words and in response to pressure to do "the program" right. Thus I could "unbecome" a drunk if I just had the nerve or the imagination to break away from what you guys tell me I am from your words