out of control

Idioms  

1. Also, out of hand. No longer under management, direction, or regulation; unmanageable or unruly. For example, Housing costs are out of control, or The children were getting out of hand again. The first term uses control in the sense of “restraint,” a usage dating from the late 1500s; the variant uses hand in the sense of “power” or “authority,” and dates from the late 1800s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

out of control

He claimed that Paltrow skied out of control and slammed into him, causing four broken ribs and permanent brain damage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

The US Congress returned from recess Monday facing urgent warnings that artificial intelligence could spin dangerously out of control -- and little agreement over whether, or how, Washington should intervene.

From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026

Yields on longer-term Treasurys soon started falling, though—with investors hopeful that a more hawkish Fed would move to prevent inflation getting out of control.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

OpenAI and Anthropic's agents were secretly out of control for months before anyone noticed.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Every time Mrs. Richardson looked at Izzy, that feeling of things spiraling out of control coiled around her again, like a muscle she didn’t know how to unclench.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng