no strings attached

Idioms  

1. Without conditions or restrictions, as in They give each of the children $10,000 a year with no strings attached. This expression dates from the mid-1900s, although string in the sense of “a limitation” has been used since the late 1800s.

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Example Sentences

Care leavers who were given a one-off, no strings attached £2,000 grant were less likely to become homeless or spend time in hospital or prison, according to a new study.

From BBC • Mar. 15, 2026

The Pentagon wants Anthropic to hand over its A.I. with no strings attached.

From Slate • Feb. 27, 2026

Jeff Bezos’s ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, has given away billions to causes from higher education to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, often with no strings attached.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 21, 2026

Ideally I could get dressed up once a week and go to a great restaurant or experience something fun in the city with zero expectations for the future and no strings attached.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 3, 2025

In my job, I knew that pure kindness, with no strings attached, was pretty rare.

From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman

Related Words

• complete
• full
• infinite
• outright
• pure
• sheer
• simple
• unadulterated
• unconditional
• unlimited
• unqualified
• utter