UNSHACKLE Synonyms: 48 Similar and Opposite Words

unshackle

verb

Definition of unshackle

as in to liberate

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Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of unshackle Recently, many have remarked that our great city stands at a crossroads, ready to unshackle itself from the mistakes of the past but uncertain as to how. — Matt Martin, Chicago Tribune, 19 June 2026 And at the end of that war, in 1989, Iran was able to recover because basically it was unshackled. — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 27 Apr. 2026 With his presidency unshackled, his military and other policy decisions are reshaping the economy in real time — and clouding the economic outlook. — Matt Peterson, CNBC, 21 Mar. 2026 In doing so, the killer helped unshackle dark forces—chief among them anti-Semitism—that now threaten to overtake the conservative movement. — Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic, 4 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for unshackle

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unshackle

Verb

The Sun in your sign trines liberating Uranus in your adventurous 9th house, encouraging you to explore a new subject, destination, belief, or direction.

— Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 28 Sep. 2026
We were taught by a gruff cockney called Fred Waring, who had participated in the D-Day landings in a regiment that had fought its way across Europe towards Berlin and liberated the concentration camp at Belsen.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of liberate

Verb

Drew was legally emancipated from her mother at 14 and began living independently.

— Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 18 Aug. 2026
In 1775, his first enslaver sold him to the commander of Framingham's Minute Men, who emancipated him, and Salem went on to fight at Lexington and Concord.

— Catherine Messier, The Providence Journal, 4 July 2026

Definition of emancipate

Verb

The nationwide standalone 5G that the carrier announced Wednesday essentially unchains that service from 4G LTE, allowing devices to connect to the network without first requiring a setup via AT&T’s older and slower network.

— PC Magazine, PC Magazine, 9 Oct. 2025
When Henson refused to unchain herself from the fence, California Highway Patrol arrested her.

— Kate Talerico, The Mercury News, 7 Aug. 2024

Definition of unchain

Verb

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

Definition of unfetter

Verb

The state is an outlier in taking days to count most votes, but supporters of the system say it is designed to enfranchise more people while protecting against fraud.

— Praveena Somasundaram, Washington Post, 6 June 2026
The Radical Republican Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, as Michael Waldman writes in The Fight to Vote, was even blunter than Sumner about the necessity of enfranchising Black men.

— Adam Serwer, The Atlantic, 19 May 2026

Definition of enfranchise

Verb

The film should be highly disturbing, but the dramatic tension never gels, despite composer Christopher Stacey’s efforts to unmoor us by injecting discordant strings beneath mundane scenes.

— Peter Debruge, Variety, 18 Feb. 2023
By Big Tech standards, Netflix has remained a strongly independent company over its 25-year run, spurning big acquisitions and splashy deals that could unmoor its roots.

— Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 14 July 2022

Definition of unmoor

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unsexy

unshackle

unshackled

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“Unshackle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unshackle. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of unshackle

verb

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