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.
The booster fell swiftly back to Earth, uncontrolled, into the Gulf of Mexico.
From Barron's • May 22, 2026
The decision was based on results of a late-stage clinical trial that showed the drug reduced blood pressure in patients with uncontrolled hypertension who were on two or more medications, it added.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
"And cancer is potentially exploiting that same principle, changing where in the genome these dynamics are more important to manipulate cell identity and encourage uncontrolled growth."
From Science Daily • Mar. 31, 2026
An uncontrolled, sudden increase in voltage in the system "on a day with multiple concurrent phenomena" led to instability and "cascading generation", it said.
From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026
I felt weirdly calm about it, even though I’d never seen an uncontrolled fire in person before.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
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.
