fettering

verb

present participle of fetter
1
as in binding
to confine or restrain with or as if with chains museum artifacts that serve as somber reminders of the days when slaves were fettered with irons

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in impeding
to create difficulty for the work or activity of the belief that too many rules and restrictions fetter children's creativity

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fettering
  1. binding
  2. impeding
  3. tying
  4. hampering
  5. confining
  6. hindering
  7. constraining
  8. obstructing
Verb
  • One blocks the receptor binding protein, which the virus uses to attach to human cells.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • Signed in May 2025, the preliminary agreement was extended three times — in September, December and April — without ever becoming a binding deal.
    — Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 2 July 2026
Definition of binding
Verb
  • These vehicles were blocking and impeding fire operations, and several were non-operational and required tow truck assistance for removal.
    — Jeff Nguyen, CBS News, 1 July 2026
  • Florida’s sanctuary city laws forbid local governments from impeding ICE from doing its job, such as by not sharing information with the federal government.
    — Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 26 June 2026
Definition of impeding
Verb
  • As Dubner himself acknowledged in the anniversary foreword, the original book was written without a central thesis tying everything together.
    — Alexander Puutio, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
  • In an exclusive clip shared with PEOPLE, Risico says Wilder, who had already killed multiple women, electrically shocked different parts of her body after tying her up in a motel room.
    — Liam Quinn, PEOPLE, 30 June 2026
Definition of tying
Verb
  • Critics argue that the approach risks hampering Europe’s competitiveness.
    — Sam Birchall, Fortune, 23 June 2026
  • The sanctions are hampering work on a broad array of investigations at the court.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 June 2026
Definition of hampering
Verb
  • Plants are also unbothered by confining pavement and other urban challenges.
    — Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 24 June 2026
  • The requirement to add wheels increases costs and can limit where these homes are allowed, due to zoning restrictions, often confining them to mobile home parks.
    — Samantha Delouya, CNN Money, 23 June 2026
Definition of confining
Verb
  • He was charged with hindering apprehension, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence in connection with this case.
    — Tom Ignudo, CBS News, 2 July 2026
  • This raises concerns as companies reduce entry-level hiring, hindering the development of crucial tacit knowledge.
    — Juliette Han, Forbes.com, 27 June 2026
Definition of hindering
Verb
  • The Clippers can continue to build a younger and more robust roster without his contract constraining their spending power.
    — Mark Medina, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
  • Tuesday's vote ended with 189 voting in favor and 235 voting in opposition of constraining the president's authority.
    — Alex Sundby, CBS News, 30 June 2026
Definition of constraining
Verb
  • Within Venezuela, activists have accused authorities of obstructing relief efforts.
    — Manuel Rueda, NPR, 27 June 2026
  • The passenger rail service said that eight cars and two locomotives derailed after striking the dump truck that was obstructing the crossing.
    — The Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 25 June 2026
Definition of obstructing
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

fettered
fettering
fetters
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fettering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fettering. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on fettering

Nglish: Translation of fettering for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All