uncontrolled
Britishadjective
Explanation
Do your little cousins go running wildly around the house every time they're visiting? Then they're uncontrolled — they aren't being restrained by anyone or anything. Anything uncontrolled isn't kept in check or held back. An uncontrolled scream is intense, because you're not trying to tamp it down. An uncontrolled balloon has blown loose and is flying around with no one holding its string. And scientifically speaking, an uncontrolled study or experiment doesn't use a so-called "control group," which is used for comparison and makes the study more valid.
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.
For more than a year, an uncontrolled fire had burned in the bowels of the dump, broiling old garbage and sending nauseating fumes into nearby homes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
The booster fell swiftly back to Earth, uncontrolled, into the Gulf of Mexico.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
Defection to solar has been so fast and uncontrolled that Pakistan’s energy utilities are struggling with falling sales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
In nearly half of these cases, the condition is either uncontrolled or does not respond well to treatment.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026
I shake my fists at heaven and God, and when I finally subside into uncontrolled sobbing Queenie creeps out from behind the trunks and slides into my lap.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
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.
