free rein

noun

: unrestricted liberty of action or decision

Examples of free rein in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Losing Fed independence is like giving free rein to emotional, irrational decision making. —Hersh Shefrin, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025

Take Snell’s 2023 Cy Young campaign, when the left-hander allowed base runners close to free rein. —Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 17 Aug. 2025

With real pressure from Washington, Addis Ababa and the Tigrayan administration should be able to marginalize the reckless factions that are seeking to exploit the situation—and finally bring to heel the Middle Eastern powers that have for too long enjoyed free rein to meddle in the Horn of Africa. —Mulugeta Gebrehiwot Berhe, Foreign Affairs, 5 Aug. 2025

As a parent, I’m outraged by the idea of our school system giving tech companies free rein to experiment on our children in order to train their AI models or mine their personal data. —Liat Olenick, New York Daily News, 3 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1635, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for free rein

• abstain
• airplane
• alkane
• arcane
• arraign
• attain
• backplane
• betaine
• biplane
• blockchain
• butane
• campaign