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.
They are shallow, if sad, nostalgic for their own untrammeled youth; they still have a little innocence left to lose.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
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
They reached the boundaries of the island’s water, and the centaur stiffened, but the Ever Onward moved swiftly past, untrammeled by the island’s enchantment.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
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.
