as in to free
to set free (as from slavery or confinement)
authorities eventually unfettered the menagerie of wild animals that had been kept illegally as pets
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Recent Examples of unfetter
As spring ends, maple trees begin to unfetter winged seeds that flutter and swirl from branches to land gently on the ground.
—
Nikk Ogasa, Scientific American, 22 Sep. 2021
His long run in office, however, delivered only partial victories on his two primary ambitions: to unfetter Japan’s military after decades of postwar pacifism and to jump-start and overhaul its economy through a program known as Abenomics.
—New York Times, 8 July 2022
The Safdies are pointedly effective in capturing the way in which a chaotic city’s overall rhythm goes on unfettered even as a character experiences a horrific disruption or glitch in one small part of it.
—Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 15 Dec. 2019
By manufacturing satellite components in space, Made In Space hopes to unfetter some of those launch constraints.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 2 Aug. 2019
By manufacturing satellite components in space, the company hopes to unfetter some of those launch constraints.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 29 July 2019
Unfettered by worries about his relationship, Caldwell thrived.
—Jason Blevins, The Denver Post, 18 May 2017
Nikk Ogasa, Scientific American, 22 Sep. 2021
His long run in office, however, delivered only partial victories on his two primary ambitions: to unfetter Japan’s military after decades of postwar pacifism and to jump-start and overhaul its economy through a program known as Abenomics.
—New York Times, 8 July 2022
The Safdies are pointedly effective in capturing the way in which a chaotic city’s overall rhythm goes on unfettered even as a character experiences a horrific disruption or glitch in one small part of it.
—Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 15 Dec. 2019
By manufacturing satellite components in space, Made In Space hopes to unfetter some of those launch constraints.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 2 Aug. 2019
By manufacturing satellite components in space, the company hopes to unfetter some of those launch constraints.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 29 July 2019
Unfettered by worries about his relationship, Caldwell thrived.
—Jason Blevins, The Denver Post, 18 May 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unfetter
Verb
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But the pending Senate bill keeps the door wide open, effectively freeing very wealthy business owners from any cap on their SALT deductions.—
Howard Gleckman,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
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Protests in Israel also resumed after a two-week pause during the Israel-Iran war, with demonstrators demanding a deal that would free the hostages still in Gaza.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
30 June 2025
Verb
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Their freedom came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln liberated slaves in the Confederacy by signing the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War.—
Ani Freedman,
Fortune,
20 June 2025
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Two-and-a-half years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the enslaved people of Texas learned — via the victorious Union Army — that they were liberated.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
19 June 2025
Verb
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Following his hearing Wednesday, Sayer was released on $150,000 bond into home detention with location monitoring.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
27 June 2025
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For every container of fireworks arriving at a U.S. port, importers must pay the tariff upfront, before customs even thinks about releasing the goods.—
Richard Howells,
Forbes.com,
27 June 2025
Verb
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Another group, Project Dynamo, which had rescued Americans evacuating Afghanistan in 2021, used its connections to fly a group of touring veterans from Israel to Miami.—
David Lyons,
Sun Sentinel,
30 June 2025
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In return, prosecutors alleged, Madigan used his influence over the General Assembly to help ComEd score a series of huge legislative victories that not only rescued the company from financial instability but led to record-breaking, billion-dollar profits.—
Jason Meisner,
Chicago Tribune,
30 June 2025
Verb
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Artificial implants naturally wear out or loosen with time and activity.—
Colleen Doherty,
Verywell Health,
27 June 2025
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The challenges were steep enough that Georgia has decided to loosen its work verification protocols from monthly to once a year.—
ProPublica,
ProPublica,
26 June 2025
Verb
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The South American liberation leader Simón Bolívar emancipated the slave laborers who worked on his family’s estate—unlike George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.—
Carolina A. Miranda,
The Atlantic,
30 June 2025
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Kate Hudson considered being emancipated from her parents, Goldie Hawn and Bill Hudson, to better her Hollywood career.—
Janelle Ash,
FOXNews.com,
28 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unfetter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unfetter. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
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