unwriting
Reversing written words
Unwriting is the act of undoing or erasing what has been written—removing text, reversing a narrative, or dismantling written work.
The term appears in literary and philosophical contexts to describe deliberate erasure or the paradox of using writing to negate itself: The poet's late career was an unwriting of everything he'd published before.
As a present participle, it can describe ongoing textual demolition or revision so thorough it amounts to deletion.
Utter, complete destruction
- erasureAct of wiping away
- effacementAct of erasing completely
- expungingRemoving completely from existence
- abolitionFormal discontinuation of practice
wiping · purging · vanishing · disappearance · dissolution · extirpation · palimpsest · blankness
Removal of content
- backspaceKeyboard's leftward eraser
- erasureAct of wiping away
- correctionFixing of mistakes
- deleteRemove or erase
expunge · efface · edit · revise · redact · excise · wipeout · scrub
Altering to improve
- amendmentChange to official text
- reversalComplete change of direction
- annulmentDeclared void from start
- cancellationVoiding of plans
repeal · rescission · abrogation · negation · countermanding · unmaking · deconstruction · dismantling
Formal withdrawal of statement
- disavowalRejection of connection
- withdrawalAct of taking away
- backtrackingReversing to find alternatives
- repudiationFormal refusal to accept
abjuration · renunciation · contradiction · about-face · revocation · unsaying · disowning · disclaimer
annihilation
Utter, complete destruction
- erasureAct of wiping away
- effacementAct of erasing completely
- expungingRemoving completely from existence
abolition · wiping · purging · vanishing · disappearance · dissolution · extirpation · palimpsest · blankness · void
deletion
Removal of content
- backspaceKeyboard's leftward eraser
- erasureAct of wiping away
- correctionFixing of mistakes
delete · expunge · efface · edit · revise · redact · excise · wipeout · scrub · dele
revision
Altering to improve
- amendmentChange to official text
- reversalComplete change of direction
- annulmentDeclared void from start
cancellation · repeal · rescission · abrogation · negation · countermanding · unmaking · deconstruction · dismantling · rollback
recantation
Formal withdrawal of statement
- disavowalRejection of connection
- withdrawalAct of taking away
- backtrackingReversing to find alternatives
repudiation · abjuration · renunciation · contradiction · about-face · revocation · unsaying · disowning · disclaimer · denial
unwritingwriting
Recorded language on surface
composing · authoring · inscribing · drafting · creating
unwritingcomposition
Arranged elements forming whole
writing · text · manuscript · written work · inscription
write, writer, writing, written, rewrite, writhe, writers, writings, unwritten