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
After years of false starts, Netflix finally greenlit the series and gave the two filmmakers carte blanche.
—
Huntley Woods, EW.com, 9 Aug. 2025
In our view, ADU advocates should be open to reasonable conditions, but the city shouldn’t give aldermen carte blanche to wholesale bar the construction of granny flats.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 18 July 2025
Under this reading of agency authority, the government has carte blanche to evade the limits Congress imposed on the Executive's discretionary authority over adjustments to LPR status and to circumvent the procedures Congress mandated for recission of such adjustments.
—Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 July 2025
The near carte blanche access Musk had in our government with his initial team of kiddie corp.
—Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 14 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for carte blanche
Huntley Woods, EW.com, 9 Aug. 2025
In our view, ADU advocates should be open to reasonable conditions, but the city shouldn’t give aldermen carte blanche to wholesale bar the construction of granny flats.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 18 July 2025
Under this reading of agency authority, the government has carte blanche to evade the limits Congress imposed on the Executive's discretionary authority over adjustments to LPR status and to circumvent the procedures Congress mandated for recission of such adjustments.
—Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 July 2025
The near carte blanche access Musk had in our government with his initial team of kiddie corp.
—Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 14 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for carte blanche
Recent Examples of Synonyms for carte blanche
Noun
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For a few seconds, the phones are overwhelmed by the free hands of fans who simply want to wave at Myers and maybe catch a smile or a wink in return.—
Josh Crutchmer,
Rolling Stone,
4 Sep. 2025
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In the accompanying image, Baz is lying on her side, nursing her son in a low cut bra while holding a bottle in her free hand.—
Elisabeth Sherman,
Parents,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Rockets don't appear to be in any rush to hand him a blank check, either.—
Bryan Toporek,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
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One of the people who slid into her DMs at the time was Wil Shipley, a software developer who basically offered her a blank check.—
Jenelle Riley,
Variety,
21 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Carte blanche.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/carte%20blanche. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.
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