loose
Americanadjective
-
free or released from fastening or attachment.
a loose end.
- Antonyms:
- bound
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free from anything that binds or restrains; unfettered.
loose cats prowling around in alleyways at night.
- Synonyms:
- unbound
-
uncombined, as a chemical element.
-
not bound together.
to wear one's hair loose.
-
not put up in a package or other container.
loose mushrooms.
-
available for disposal; unused; unappropriated.
loose funds.
-
lacking in reticence or power of restraint.
a loose tongue.
-
lax, as the bowels.
-
lacking moral restraint or integrity.
notorious for his loose character.
-
sexually promiscuous or immoral; unchaste.
- Synonyms:
- licentious, dissolute, libertine
- Antonyms:
- chaste
-
not firm, taut, or rigid.
a loose tooth;
a loose rein.
-
relaxed or limber in nature.
He runs with a loose, open stride.
-
not fitting closely or tightly.
a loose sweater.
-
not close or compact in structure or arrangement; having spaces between the parts; open.
a loose weave.
-
having few restraining factors between associated constituents and allowing ample freedom for independent action.
a loose federation of city-states.
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not cohering.
loose sand.
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not strict, exact, or precise.
a loose interpretation of the law.
- Synonyms:
- indefinite, general, vague
-
Sports.
-
having the players on a team positioned at fairly wide intervals, as in a football formation.
-
(of a ball, hockey puck, etc.) not in the possession of either team; out of player control.
-
adverb
verb (used with object)
-
to let loose; free from bonds or restraint.
-
to release, as from constraint, obligation, or penalty.
- Synonyms:
- liberate
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Chiefly Nautical. to set free from fastening or attachment.
to loose a boat from its moorings.
-
to unfasten, undo, or untie, as a bond, fetter, or knot.
-
to shoot; discharge; let fly.
to loose missiles at the invaders.
-
to make less tight; slacken or relax.
- Synonyms:
- ease
- Antonyms:
- tighten
-
to render less firmly fixed; lessen an attachment; loosen.
verb (used without object)
-
to let go a hold.
-
to hoist anchor; get under way.
-
to shoot or let fly an arrow, bullet, etc. (often followed byoff ).
to loose off at a flock of ducks.
-
Obsolete. to become loose; loosen.
idioms
-
break loose, to free oneself; escape.
The convicts broke loose.
-
cut loose,
-
to release from domination or control.
-
to become free, independent, etc.
-
to revel without restraint.
After the rodeo they headed into town to cut loose.
-
-
on the loose,
-
free; unconfined, as, especially, an escaped convict or circus animal.
-
behaving in an unrestrained or dissolute way.
a bachelor on the loose.
-
-
turn loose, to release or free, as from confinement.
The teacher turned the children loose after the class.
-
let loose. see let loose.
-
cast loose,
-
to loosen or unfasten, as a ship from a mooring.
-
to send forth; set adrift or free.
He was cast loose at an early age to make his own way in the world.
-
-
hang / stay loose, to remain relaxed and unperturbed.
adjective
-
free or released from confinement or restraint
-
not close, compact, or tight in structure or arrangement
-
not fitted or fitting closely
loose clothing is cooler
-
not bundled, packaged, fastened, or put in a container
loose nails
-
inexact; imprecise
a loose translation
-
(of funds, cash, etc) not allocated or locked away; readily available
-
-
(esp of women) promiscuous or easy
-
(of attitudes, ways of life, etc) immoral or dissolute
-
-
lacking a sense of responsibility or propriety
loose talk
-
-
(of the bowels) emptying easily, esp excessively; lax
-
(of a cough) accompanied by phlegm, mucus, etc
-
-
(of a dye or dyed article) fading as a result of washing; not fast
-
informal very relaxed; easy
noun
-
rugby the part of play when the forwards close round the ball in a ruck or loose scrum See scrum
-
-
free from confinement or restraint
-
informal on a spree
-
adverb
-
-
in a loose manner; loosely
-
( in combination )
loose-fitting
-
-
informal to behave in a relaxed, easy fashion
verb
-
(tr) to set free or release, as from confinement, restraint, or obligation
-
(tr) to unfasten or untie
-
to make or become less strict, tight, firmly attached, compact, etc
-
to let fly (a bullet, arrow, or other missile)
Usage
What’s the difference between loose and lose? Loose is most commonly used as an adjective meaning not tight or free or released from fastening, attachment, or restraint, as in a loose screw or Let him loose! Lose is a verb most commonly meaning to fail to win or to misplace something, as in I hate to lose in chess or Don’t lose your key. Loose ends with an s sound and rhymes with moose. Lose ends with a z sound and rhymes with choose. One reason that the two words are sometimes confused is that loose can also be used as a verb, most commonly meaning to free something from a restraint, as in loose the cannons! Perhaps the most common misuse of these words is when loose is used when lose should be. To remember the difference, remember this sentence: You could lose loose screws. (First comes the verb lose, with one o, followed by the adjective loose, with two o’s). Here’s an example of loose and lose used correctly in a sentence. Example: If you carry around loose cash, you could lose it—put it in your wallet. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between loose and lose.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
loosesimple
-
loosessimple
-
have loosedperfect
-
has loosedperfect
-
am loosingprogressive
-
are loosingprogressive
-
is loosingprogressive
-
have been loosingperfect progressive
-
has been loosingperfect progressive
Past
-
loosedsimple
-
had loosedperfect
-
was loosingprogressive
-
were loosingprogressive
-
had been loosingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of loose
First recorded in 1175–1225; (adjective) Middle English los, loos, from Old Norse lauss “loose, free, empty”; cognate with Old English lēas ( see -less), Dutch, German los loose, free; (verb) Middle English leowsen, lousen, derivative of the adjective
Explanation
If something is loose, it's not attached very securely to anything. Be sure the horse trailer attached to your truck isn't loose, or it might just roll away on its own while you're on the highway. Loose means "not fixed." We can use it for things that you physically attach, like doorknobs or buttons, or for ideas that aren't rigid. If someone has loose morals, they don't have a strong moral code. A floppy dancer has loose limbs, and a loose ball is one that no one's holding. It's also a verb. To loose something is to set it free, which is different from losing it. You loose the wild squirrel you nursed back to health.
Vocabulary lists containing loose
Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Commonly Confused Words, List 4
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Commonly Confused Words, List 6
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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.
See Examples For:
In a separate incident, two Cal Fire firefighters were injured when a rock became loose and shifted, Castillo said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
For decades, the way to stay cool while exercising was simple: wear less clothing and make what you did wear light and loose.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Coming in after the record-breaking opening stand on Sunday, Root enjoyed a rare opportunity to cut loose, with his strike-rate of 154.17 the highest of any ODI score over 50 in his ODI career.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
One of those things was a more playful, loose approach to acting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
She looked as old as Granny herself, with sunken cheeks and loose gray flesh.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
Advocates for rate increases start from a shared premise: Policy may be looser than the Fed intended it to be even after cutting last year, and the economy no longer needs the support.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
That contrast sharpens Rotterdam's concern about losing energy intensive industry to regions with looser rules and cheaper power.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
But looser fits also continued to put up sales gains, and Gass said consumers had shown the company that it could be much more than jeans.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Shares of banks large and small have risen this year as investors bet on a period of looser regulation further boosting banks’ profits.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
It even covers his head, and there is a glass mask for his eyes—like the wet suits skin divers wear in cold water, only looser and bulkier.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
Few Indians—other than the many who migrated there as merchants and agricultural laborers under the Raj—felt any but the loosest kinship with Burma.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
But “The Paper” is a spinoff of “The Office” — in the loosest sense — so this isn’t a soapbox.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2025
But it's the electronic element in the whole secrets business that is the loosest and hardest to control.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2023
According to Goldman Sachs, U.S. financial conditions are the loosest since August and have eased 150 basis points since mid-October.
From Reuters ● Feb. 2, 2023
And Gabe, by the loosest definition, was human.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
Social tension could rise if Lula's government looses popular support in a context of greater economic difficulties, according to a report led by Christopher Garman, Eurasia's managing director for the Americas.
From Reuters ● Jan. 10, 2023
LME halts #Nickel trade - #China trader looses billions in Nickel short.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 9, 2022
The loser looses any realistic path to the postseason.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 24, 2021
But the film looses coherence and urgency on the dark side of the moon.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 20, 2020
Trigger, trig′ėr, n. a catch which when pulled looses the hammer of a gun in firing: a catch to hold a wheel when driving on steep ground.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
"It's like flying a brick – there's only one way, and it's down," said Mr Davies, from Bollington, Cheshire, describing what it was like once the the glider was loosed.
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2025
In the words of the Yeats poem, "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world… Surely some revelation is at hand."
From Salon ● Mar. 7, 2025
Midway through his speech, the president quoted his favorite Irish poet, William Butler Yeats: “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”
From Slate ● Sep. 24, 2024
We have entered another age of disunited nations, an era when mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 3, 2023
His uncle’s wife had nothing active in her body except her tongue and this she now loosed upon Wang Lung.
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
This step is critical to keep all those juices inside the bird versus loosing those tasty juices into the bottom of your serving platter.
From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2024
Both Emma’s and Simon’s deaths, falling down steep set of stairs after loosing hold of a necklace, are consistent with the novel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2022
“I’m loosing the hope,” the mother, who is not being named to protect her safety, texted in broken English to Principal Nate McGill, who urged her to not give up.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 4, 2021
NK is flat broke and his million plus army keeps loosing weight and shrinking.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2018
Rawiya locked arms with him as they paraded down the hallway, passing more classrooms, students emptying into the stream like the loosing of a dam.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
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.
