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 But many people have unfettered access to my calendar. Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2024 The United States has shifted from its laissez-faire position on the unfettered flow of information and increasingly embraces restrictions on transfers of data to China and other competitors. Peter E. Harrell, Foreign Affairs, 26 Feb. 2024 Esteemed instructors conduct each course, and subscribers also gain unfettered access to certification exams, educational resources, and ebooks, enhancing their learning experience. Stack Commerce, Popular Science, 29 Feb. 2024 Many factors are at play, according to experts, including changing attitudes toward monogamy as a result of the pandemic and increasing, unfettered access to information online about different relationship styles. David Oliver, USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024 Williams remains in the facility to this day, and her family says the guardian is the only person who has unfettered access to her. Brianne Tracy, Peoplemag, 23 Feb. 2024 History could certainly repeat itself if hunters had unfettered access to grassy, flat mountaintops where the elk roam. Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 20 Feb. 2024 But critics believe that the technology’s convenience fails to outweigh a high potential for abuse — from unfettered surveillance to unintended effects like perpetuating racial and gender discrimination. Christine Chung, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2024 The same is generally not the case for generative AI that has been suitable data trained (for my discussion about generative AI that is unfettered, see the link here). Lance Eliot, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024

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 19 Mar. 2024.

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