unshackle
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to free from shackles; unfetter.
-
to free from restraint, as conversation.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
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
-
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
On Monday, Sir Keir wrote to civil servants to promise reforms that would unshackle them from bureaucracy and stop their talent being "constrained".
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2025
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
If she could persuade him to unshackle her, a dark night like this was made for running.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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
Returning to base, David unshackles the pups, each of whom jumps into the Chena for a quick dip before returning to kennel.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 6, 2017
Your prayer unshackles him and we will do no more than banish him from Paris.
From If I Were King by McCarthy, Justin
But Twain’s greatest discovery was his gloriously unshackled literary style, which was inspired by local dialects and liberated from European refinements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 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
In his first court appearance since being arrested in Mexico last week, Wedding appeared relaxed, smiling with his attorney and occasionally at the media and FBI agents as he stretched his unshackled arms.
From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2026
For the first time, I feel unshackled from the expectations of waiting.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2025
She handed it over to him and he unshackled his wrists as she rooted around in a box she’d brought over.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
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
At first Max did pretty well in unshackling himself from the scandalous name.
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2020
Brands offers a detailed, almost minute-by-minute account of Brown’s raid, which he rates a “wretched fiasco,” a “quixotic venture” that, far from unshackling the enslaved, tightened their shackles even further.
From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2020
It was a new kind of freedom, the unshackling of his mind.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 23, 2019
We hove in upon our chain, and after stoppering and unshackling it again and again, and hoisting and hauling down sail, we at length tripped our anchor and stood out to sea.
From Two Years Before the Mast by Dana, Richard Henry
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.
