Synonyms

tethered

American

[teth-erd] / ˈtɛð ərd /

adjective

fastened or confined with or as if with a rope, chain, or the like to limit the range of movement.

On this field trip, students will have the opportunity to take a ride in a tethered hot-air balloon.
Too many lawmakers are partisan, inept, or too lightly tethered to reality.
Digital Technology. (of an electronic device) used to enable a wireless internet connection on another nearby device, often a laptop.

You can browse the web more securely using a tethered phone, because your information is being sent directly through the phone rather than over a public wireless hotspot.

verb

the simple past tense and past participle of tether.

Other Word Forms

untethered adjective

Etymology

Origin of tethered

tether ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

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.

It is that it hasn’t been tethered to anything higher.

From The Wall Street Journal

When Max looked like her end was nigh, hearing Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush tethered her to reality, keeping her alive.

From BBC

Foreign brands, by contrast, often remain tethered to global decision-making structures that slow response times.

From MarketWatch

Without being tethered to a device, we’re free to move as we wish.

From Salon

The currency’s move overnight was paralleled by weakness in U.S. equity futures, suggesting investors’ willingness to take risks remains tethered to cryptocurrency prices heading into the final month of the year.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023