untrammeled
Americanadjective
-
without restraint or impediment; unhindered.
The sermon called out reckless and untrammeled greed as the most serious spiritual problem in the country.
-
not developed; untouched.
Whether in urban pocket parks or distant untrammeled wilderness, being active outdoors restores and recharges us.
Etymology
Origin of untrammeled
un- 1 ( def. ) + trammeled
Explanation
Something that's untrammeled is completely free and unrestricted. If you live a truly untrammeled life, you feel free to follow your dreams. As opposed to a lion in a zoo, a wild animal is untrammeled, or free to roam. You could also describe a dictator's power as untrammeled, in a much less positive sense — he is free to make any laws he wants, and to treat his subjects however he chooses. Untrammeled comes from trammel, or "restriction," which also refers to a particular kind of fishing net. The root is Late Latin, tremaculum, "net made of three layers."
Vocabulary lists containing untrammeled
To Kill a Mockingbird
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"The Lady, or the Tiger?" by Frank R. Stockton
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Heart of Darkness
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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.
Shea said he found civil servants’ untrammeled advice useful when he was a presidential appointee.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 23, 2024
The Wilderness Act of 1964 defined wilderness as "an area where the Earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."
From Salon • Sep. 9, 2023
Long before then Amtrak could be enjoying an untrammeled yard, without gates on Holgate.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 20, 2023
“For freedom, I have learned, I’d barter/ virtue every time. For any fierce, untrammeled feeling,/ now I know I’d give up almost anything.”
From Washington Post • Feb. 10, 2023
“America ... shall respond finally ... to the self-interest instilled in all men by our God . .. now untrammeled by the unnatural devices of princes and . . . tyrants. .. .”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
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.
