To show what someone really is when they have been pretending to be something else. The picture inside it is literal — pulling the mask off a face — and English keeps that drama when it uses the word for people: a spy is unmasked, a cheat is unmasked, a false prophet is unmasked.

To show what someone really is when they have been pretending to be something else意思是揭露某人假裝成別的樣子時，他真正的樣子。The picture inside it is literal這個字背後的畫面是字面上的 — pulling the mask off a face把一張臉上的面具拉下來 — and English keeps that drama when it uses the word for people英文在把這個字用在人身上時，還是保留了這種戲劇感: a spy is unmasked, a cheat is unmasked, a false prophet is unmasked間諜會被unmasked、騙子會被unmasked、假先知也會被unmasked。

Two things travel with it. First, there was a deliberate disguise: you unmask a fraud, not an honest person who happened to be wrong. Second, the truth becomes public — an unmasking is done in front of others, so the word suits journalism, detective stories, and politics.

Two things travel with it這個字背後跟著兩件事。First, there was a deliberate disguise第一，一定有刻意的偽裝存在: you unmask a fraud, not an honest person who happened to be wrong你揭穿的是一個騙子，而不是一個剛好犯錯的誠實人。Second, the truth becomes public第二，真相會被公開: an unmasking is done in front of others揭穿這件事是在別人面前發生的, so the word suits journalism, detective stories, and politics所以這個字很適合用在新聞、偵探故事和政治裡。

You will often see the pattern 'unmask someone as something': 'he was unmasked as a police informer'. It also works on things, not just people, where it means to reveal a hidden nature — 'the report unmasked the scheme as a simple fraud' — and in medicine it has a quieter technical use, where a treatment can unmask a condition that was there all along but hidden.

You will often see the pattern 'unmask someone as something'你常會看到'unmask someone as something'（揭穿某人是某種身分）這樣的句型: 'he was unmasked as a police informer'像'he was unmasked as a police informer'（他被揭穿是警方的線人）。It also works on things, not just people它也可以用在事物上，不只是人, where it means to reveal a hidden nature意思是揭露某種隱藏的本質 — 'the report unmasked the scheme as a simple fraud'像'the report unmasked the scheme as a simple fraud'（報告揭穿這個計畫其實只是個騙局） — and in medicine it has a quieter technical use而在醫學上它也有一個比較不張揚的專業用法, where a treatment can unmask a condition that was there all along but hidden指某種治療可能會讓一個一直存在、卻被隱藏起來的病況顯現出來。

The literal sense still lives too: you can just unmask your face. It is a slightly dramatic, written-feeling word; in ordinary talk people say 'find out who he really was' or 'expose'.

The literal sense still lives too字面上的用法也還在: you can just unmask your face你也可以直接說unmask你的臉，也就是把面具拿下來。It is a slightly dramatic, written-feeling word這是個稍微戲劇化、比較書面的字; in ordinary talk people say 'find out who he really was' or 'expose'一般口語裡大家會說'find out who he really was'（發現他真正的樣子）或'expose'（揭發）。