unfettered

What it means

1. Not bound by chains or shackles.

   Near-synonyms: unmanacled, unhandcuffed

   1 more example

   In a corner of the market among the pens for cattle, Barnaby knelt down, and pausing every now and then to pass his hand over his father’s face, or look up to him with a smile, knocked off his irons. When he had seen him spring, a free man, to his feet, and had given vent to the transport of delight which the sight awakened, he went to work upon his own, which soon fell rattling down upon the ground, and left his limbs unfettered.

   1841, Charles Dickens, chapter 68, in Barnaby Rudge

   Synonyms: fetterless, unshackled, shackleless, unchained, unmanacled, unhandcuffed · Antonyms: fettered

2. broadlyNot restricted.

   The EU was established to oppose the unfettered power of nation states and defuse the rivalries between them.

   2018, Michael Cottakis – LSE, “Colliding worlds: Donald Trump and the European Union”, in LSE's blog

   5 more examples

   I envy not the beast that takes ⁠His license in the field of time, ⁠Unfetter’d by the sense of crime, To whom a conscience never wakes; […]

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 44

   We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible.

   1916, Thomas Clarke, Proclamation of the Irish Republic

   This Act contained no provisions relating to the gauge of the line, and at this early date there was no legislation governing the gauge of railways generally, so that the Eastern Counties directors had an unfettered choice in the matter.

   1956 February, B. D. J. Walsh, “"Broad Gauge" in East Anglia”, in Railway Magazine, page 95

   Alexander says she has been accused of censorship "worse than a Syrian dictator" over her quest to have gang-related videos taken down. But her campaign shows the debate over a completely unfettered internet is not clear-cut.

   2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 08 May 2025

   The underlying problem with transport policy is that there no coherent strategy. Ministers have tended to encourage greater use of motor vehicles through both transport and (particularly) planning policies, while simultaneously warning of the terrible consequences of unfettered growth of road use.

   2020 December 2, Christian Wolmar, “Wales offers us a glimpse of an integrated transport policy”, in Rail, page 56

   Synonyms: fetterless, untrammeled, unconstrained, unrestrained, unrestricted, unbridled, unbound, free · Antonyms: fettered

In a sentence

Near-synonyms: unmanacled, unhandcuffed

Where it comes from

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.