unfettered

Etymology

verb

  1. simple past and past participle of unfetter

adj

  1. Not bound by chains or shackles.
    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
  2. (by extension) Not restricted.
    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
    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. April 19, 2012, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in the Guardian
    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
    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. December 2 2020, Christian Wolmar, “Wales offers us a glimpse of an integrated transport policy”, in Rail, page 56

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/unfettered), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.