unfettered
Britishadjective
Explanation
The adjective unfettered describes something or someone uninhibited and unrestrained. If you write mysteries novels for a living you probably turn your unfettered imagination to murder and mayhem. Unfettered comes from the Old English root word fetor, which was a chain or shackle for the feet. Un- means "not," so originally the word literally meant "not chained or shackled." Today there isn't much real shackling going on, so the adjective unfettered mainly describes something that is free or unrestrained. You'll see such uses as unfettered emotions, unfettered stock market growth, and unfettered speech.
Vocabulary lists containing unfettered
"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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Unbroken
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "U"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Unfettered and flexible access to the EU and UK makes this the only jurisdiction in the world from which business can sell into GB and the EU free of customs and regulatory barriers," it said.
From BBC • Sep. 13, 2023
Unfettered internet access is important for many amateur Olympic athletes who post photos and videos of their feats on Instagram and other social media sites.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 20, 2022
Unfettered by Old World tradition, free to explore alternative theologies and modes of worship, Jews in 19th-century America grafted new ways onto old and shaped the modern Judaism we recognize today.
From Washington Post • Oct. 4, 2018
Unfettered neoliberalism plus the unencumbered self plus unabashed American assertiveness: these defined the elements of the post-Cold-War consensus that formed during the first half of the 1990s — plus what enthusiasts called the information revolution.
From Salon • Aug. 9, 2017
He has spoken again, He has taken her hands, He has loosened her chain, Unfettered she stands!
From Poems by Stuart, Muriel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
