unfettered

adjective

un·​fet·​tered ˌən-ˈfe-tərd How to pronounce unfettered (audio)
: not controlled or restricted : free, unrestrained
unfettered access to the Senate.Joshua Miller
… an approach to reading which combined passion and empathy with free-ranging enthusiasm and unfettered curiosity.Jonathan Keates
If popular government is about anything, it is about the unfettered right of the voters to choose their leaders.Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
… few voices in modern American intellectual life have challenged the primacy of the unfettered individual.Walter Shapiro

Did you know?

A fetter is a chain or shackle for the feet (such as the kind sometimes used on a prisoner), or, more broadly, anything that confines or restrains. Fetter and unfetter both function as verbs in English with contrasting literal meanings having to do with the putting on of and freeing from fetters; they likewise have contrasting figurative extensions having to do with the depriving and granting of freedom. The adjective unfettered resides mostly in the figurative, with the word typically describing someone or something unrestrained in progress or spirit. This is how Irish author James Joyce used the word in his 1916 autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man when the character of Cranly recalls to his best friend Stephen what he (Stephen) said he wishes to do in life: "To discover the mode of life or of art whereby your spirit could express itself in unfettered freedom."

Examples of unfettered in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The suit paints a picture of Phillips as someone to whom WWE gave unfettered access to kids and the means to abuse them, such as private locker rooms. David Bixenspan, Rolling Stone, 23 Oct. 2024 But that unfettered access to new and vintage content comes at a price for Hollywood. Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 18 Oct. 2024 News of Lionsgate’s deal with Runway comes at a time when studios have increasingly begun implementing AI into their projects, despite many filmmakers’ concerns about how the technology’s unfettered use could threaten their jobs. Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 18 Sep. 2024 For years, people have worried about the effects that unfettered and unsupervised social-media use may have on young people—that these platforms may contribute to depression, anxiety, severe body-image issues, and even suicide risk. Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for unfettered 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unfettered.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1602, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unfettered was in 1602

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Cite this Entry

“Unfettered.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unfettered. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

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