unshackle
Americanverb (used with object)
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unshackles,
present (3rd person singular)
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unshackled,
past participle, past
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unshackling
present participle
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to free from shackles; unfetter.
-
to free from restraint, as conversation.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unshacklesimple
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unshacklessimple
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have unshackledperfect
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has unshackledperfect
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am unshacklingprogressive
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are unshacklingprogressive
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is unshacklingprogressive
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have been unshacklingperfect progressive
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has been unshacklingperfect progressive
Past
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unshackledsimple
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had unshackledperfect
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was unshacklingprogressive
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were unshacklingprogressive
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had been unshacklingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unshackle
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.
See Examples For:
She wants to unshackle a defense industry that is stunted, as she sees it, by heavy restrictions on what it can sell overseas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
That should unshackle an “asphyxiated” economy, says Alejo Czerwonko, chief investment officer for emerging markets Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management.
From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026
However, she still strongly emphasizes to Paul that she believes that only the Fremen can unshackle themselves – not an outside messiah or prophecy.
From Salon ● Mar. 9, 2024
“Ithaka” focuses on the fight to unshackle Assange from his legal peril through the rallying efforts of his septuagenarian father, John Shipton, and then-fiancée Stella Moris, with whom Assange has two children.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2023
And I felt in this a cosmic injustice, a profound cruelty, which infused an abiding, irrepressible desire to unshackle my body and achieve the velocity of escape.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
"We believe that now is the time to create a system that is fair and that unshackles millions of graduates from mountains of student loan debt," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
In the next room, Connie Samaras’ serendipitous landscape photograph unshackles whatever might be meant by being grounded.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025
When the group does push into new territory — or more accurately, unshackles itself from familiar ground — it doesn’t leave much of an impact.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2022
“When you turn your attention to those who have blessed you, it unshackles the toxic emotions we sometimes get mired in.”
From Washington Post ● May 29, 2022
The man at the windlass is stopped, unshackles the chain, and lets the anchor go with a buoy attached.
From Continental Monthly , Vol. 6, No. 1, July, 1864 Devoted to Literature and National Policy. by Various
Factory workers, farmers, gold diggers, frontiersmen flocked to the US with the belief that they could create a new identity - an "American" - unshackled from the class systems of Europe.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Following the Staggers Rail Act of 1980, the United States unshackled its railroads, allowing private operators to compete, set market-driven rates and dynamically reinvest in their own infrastructure.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 9, 2026
I had imagined that retirement would offer a life unshackled at last, a blissful new chapter in which workplace anxiety no longer sullied my contentment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
“Scientific ingenuity, unshackled by overly burdensome regulations, provides solutions like carbon capture and storage technology that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2024
I see Master Clovell glaring at us, and I wonder how long Captain Smith will remain unshackled if he keeps talking this way about the gentlemen.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
As the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary, its national soccer team has spent this summer unshackling itself from its own stunted history.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
It was a new kind of freedom, the unshackling of his mind.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 23, 2019
Alexa then tells users that one of the bots will take over, unshackling the voice aide’s normal constraints.
From Reuters ● Dec. 21, 2018
Turning off the buzzing breaking-news machine I carry in my pocket was like unshackling myself from a monster who had me on speed dial, always ready to break into my day with half-baked bulletins.
From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2018
Its unshackling effect on my sensory bonds will free me for higher spheres.
From Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
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.
