out of control

prepositional phrase

Not under control.

“The economy is out of control and is headed for a crash.”

Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. Not under control.

    The economy is out of control and is headed for a crash.

    2 more examples

    The correspondence in these columns about locomotive slipping, which has been proceeding for some months past, is tending to get out of control, and it is necessary, despite the interest of the subject, to bring it to a close.

    1954 April, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 260

    The UN secretary general has said that “climate change is out of control”, as an unofficial analysis of data showed that average world temperatures in the seven days to Wednesday were the hottest week on record.

    2023 July 7, “UN says climate change ‘out of control’ after likely hottest week on record”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

    Synonyms: full tilt boogie, on the loose

  2. Not controllable.

    The airplane went out of control after its flight-control system failed.

    1 more example

    A coal train running into Bangor got out of control, with the result that the engine crashed through the buffers, and the leading bogie and driving wheels mounted the platform beyond.

    1944 November and December, “Notes and News: Bufferstop Collisions in Northern Ireland”, in Railway Magazine, page 370
  3. Not in control of one's actions.

    Your children are completely out of control. Can you stop them running around like that?

    1 more example

    “The time is now for the United Nations and the rest of the world to jointly stand up against China and its lawless and out-of-control bullying of Taiwan,” they said, adding: “Enough is Enough.”

    2022 September 11 [2022 September 9], Lee Hsin-fang, Jonathan Chin, “Letter calls for Taiwan’s UN inclusion”, in Taipei Times, archived from the original on 11 Sep 2022, Front Page

Synonyms & antonyms

prepositional phraseNot under control.

Translations

Arabic منفلت من عقاله
  • منفلت من عقالهnot under control
Bulgarian безконтролен
  • безконтролен (bezkontrolen)not under control
French hors de contrôle
  • hors de contrôlenot under control
German außer Kontrolle, aus dem Ruder
  • außer Kontrollenot under control
  • aus dem Rudernot under control
  • ohne jegliche Kontrollenot under control
Greek εκτός ελέγχου
  • εκτός ελέγχου (ektós elénchou)not under control
Latin impos
  • imposnot under control
Polish nieopanowany
  • nieopanowanynot under control
Portuguese desgovernado, fora de controle
  • desgovernadonot under control
  • fora de controlenot under control
  • descontroladonot under control
Spanish fuera de control
  • fuera de controlnot under control
Turkish kontrol dışı
  • kontrol dışınot under control
Urdu بے قابو
  • بے قابو (bē qābū)not under control
Cite this entry
APA

out of control. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/out%20of%20control

MLA

“out of control.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/out%20of%20control. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “out of control,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/out%20of%20control.

Source: out of control on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.