unregulated
Britishadjective
Explanation
Whether it’s an economy, the fishing industry, or your cash flow, something that’s unregulated knows no bounds — there are no rules or restrictions in place. When you break the word unregulated down, it’s easy to figure out what it means. The prefix un- reverses an action, so here it means “not.” Then you have regulated, which describes something that has rules or people who check that things are working properly. So if something is unregulated, there are no rules or people making sure everything is right, like an unregulated restaurant that the board of health doesn't know about.
Vocabulary lists containing unregulated
100 SAT Words Beginning with "U"
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Mexikid
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Articles on Overfishing
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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.
Although platforms have pledged to abide by the laws, they have warned the measures could instead push teenagers into dark, unregulated corners of the internet.
From Barron's • Jun. 24, 2026
In its push to draw users to its unregulated platform, Polymarket has flooded social media with videos like Makihara’s, which appear genuine at first glance.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 21, 2026
A recent BBC Wales Investigation uncovered how unregulated sperm donation is being fuelled by social media sites and apps.
From BBC • Jun. 18, 2026
There are fears that if young people can’t manage to get on places like Instagram and TikTok, then they will turn to unregulated spaces instead.
From Slate • Jun. 18, 2026
Everyone had seen what the future looked like if time travelers were allowed to muck about in history unregulated and unchecked.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
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.
