as in free hand
permission to do something in any way you choose to do it
We gave the decorator carte blanche to furnish the house.
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Recent Examples of carte blanche
And especially so at North Carolina, which just gave a different former professional coach a blank check and carte blanche.
—
Brendan Marks, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2026
New Line gives him carte blanche on his next script, and the result is Magnolia, a three-hour, multicharacter, quasi-impenetrable opus about interconnectedness and regret.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2026
Did Freudenberger have a creative carte blanche?
—Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 13 Mar. 2026
The aggressive tactics used by some ICE agents there gave the agency a black eye, and gave progressive Democrats carte blanche to slam the very concept of immigration law.
—Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 6 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for carte blanche
Brendan Marks, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2026
New Line gives him carte blanche on his next script, and the result is Magnolia, a three-hour, multicharacter, quasi-impenetrable opus about interconnectedness and regret.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2026
Did Freudenberger have a creative carte blanche?
—Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 13 Mar. 2026
The aggressive tactics used by some ICE agents there gave the agency a black eye, and gave progressive Democrats carte blanche to slam the very concept of immigration law.
—Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 6 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for carte blanche
Recent Examples of Synonyms for carte blanche
Noun
-
The direction – which was visibly obeyed – is nothing new for repeat attendees of Welch’s shows, who have endured the agony of a phone-free hand for two minutes.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
19 Apr. 2026
-
The 5-foot-7 junior showed slick moves to the basket and a nice shooting touch, aided by the referees’ unwillingness to whistle her for using her free hand to ward off defenders.—
Tris Wykes,
Twin Cities,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
After the season, multiple programs reached out with blank check offers to transfer.—
David Ubben,
New York Times,
15 May 2026
-
That bill is a direct response to a Supreme Court that handed the executive branch a dangerous blank check and a Congress too timid to push back.—
Lucas Robinson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Carte blanche.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/carte%20blanche. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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