unfettered en · VERB · etymology 1
Pronunciation
Etymology
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Meanings
-
(form-of, participle, past) simple past and past participle of unfetter
form of unfetter
Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
unfettered en · ADJ · etymology 2
Pronunciation
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English fettered English unfettered From un- + fettered.
Meanings
-
Not bound by chains or shackles.
Near-synonyms: unmanacled, unhandcuffed
In a corner of the market among the pens for cattle, Barnaby knelt down, and pausing every now and then to pass his hand over his father’s face, or look up to him with a smile, knocked off his irons. When he had seen him spring, a free man, to his feet, and had given vent to the transport of delight which the sight awakened, he went to work upon his own, which soon fell rattling down upon the ground, and left his limbs unfettered.
1841, Charles Dickens, chapter 68, in Barnaby Rudge:
-
(broadly) Not restricted.
The underlying problem with transport policy is that there no coherent strategy. Ministers have tended to encourage greater use of motor vehicles through both transport and (particularly) planning policies, while simultaneously warning of the terrible consequences of unfettered growth of road use.
2020 December 2, Christian Wolmar, “Wales offers us a glimpse of an integrated transport policy”, in Rail, page 56:The EU was established to oppose the unfettered power of nation states and defuse the rivalries between them.
2018, Michael Cottakis – LSE, “Colliding worlds: Donald Trump and the European Union”, in LSE's blog:For the modern world, unfettered internet access is just as important as a good car or new clothes.
2026 June 8, Andrei Zakharov, “Putin Restricted the Internet. It Has Not Gone to Plan.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible.
1916, Thomas Clarke, Proclamation of the Irish Republic:I envy not the beast that takes His license in the field of time, Unfetter’d by the sense of crime, To whom a conscience never wakes; […]
1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 44:Alexander says she has been accused of censorship "worse than a Syrian dictator" over her quest to have gang-related videos taken down. But her campaign shows the debate over a completely unfettered internet is not clear-cut.
2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 08 May 2025:This Act contained no provisions relating to the gauge of the line, and at this early date there was no legislation governing the gauge of railways generally, so that the Eastern Counties directors had an unfettered choice in the matter.
1956 February, B. D. J. Walsh, “"Broad Gauge" in East Anglia”, in Railway Magazine, page 95:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more unfettered | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most unfettered | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
Hypernyms
Synonyms
free · unmanacled · unbridled · fetterless · unshackled · shackleless · unbound · fetterless · unconstrained · unrestrained · untrammeled · unhandcuffed · unrestricted · unchained
Translations (21)
es desencadenado (not bound by chains) · nl onbeperkt (not restricted) · de entfesselt (not bound by chains) · de ungehindert (not restricted) · de frei (not bound by chains) · ko 자유롭다 (not restricted) · cs nespoutaný (not bound by chains) · pl nieograniczony (not restricted) · es sin restricciones (not restricted) · fi kahlitsematon (not restricted) · pl nieskrępowany (not restricted) · de ungezügelt (not restricted) · fi vapaa (not restricted) · es libre (not restricted) · pl nieskrępowany (not bound by chains) · es irrestricto (not restricted) · fi kahlitsematon (not bound by chains) · nl ongebonden (not bound by chains) · ru освобождённый (not bound by chains) · ru нестеснённый (not restricted) · es sin trabas (not restricted)