unconfined

adjective

un·​con·​fined ˌən-kən-ˈfīnd How to pronounce unconfined (audio)
: not held back, restrained, or kept within confines : not confined
unconfined joy
… her black hair flowed about her unconfined.Wilkie Collins

Examples of unconfined in a Sentence

residents of the camp for drug rehabilitation are completely unconfined—no one is there unless they want to be
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
This accounted for just 3 percent of heating fires overall, but these led to more than 40 percent of fatalities, in part because portable heaters tend to be placed precisely where people live and sleep, and because the resulting fires are far more likely to be unconfined. Matthew Korfhage, WIRED, 24 Mar. 2025 But even with this extensive network, there still is a need for improvements to address data gaps and enhance the representation of different aquifers, both in confined and unconfined conditions. Claire Marks, Austin American-Statesman, 27 Aug. 2024 Destroying a pier is likely beyond the capability of an unconfined sea drone explosion. Ben Hodges, Led Klosky, Robert Person, Foreign Affairs, 5 Dec. 2023 But the physics of an unconfined air blast that disperses its energy in all directions meant that only a small percentage of the blast’s force was focused directly on the bridge’s underside. Ben Hodges, Led Klosky, Robert Person, Foreign Affairs, 5 Dec. 2023 Let joy be unconfined! Vulture, 2 Nov. 2022 An average of about 2,400 calls are received by Anchorage Animal Care and Control each year about off-leash or unconfined animals, mostly dogs, said Tamiah Liebersbach, the administration manager for the municipal health department, which works alongside the Animal Control Advisory Board. Tess Williams, Anchorage Daily News, 5 Feb. 2021 Principles of biological terrestrial locomotion have been discovered on unconfined vertical and horizontal substrates. Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 31 May 2013 One, the kind researchers are now worried about, is the unconfined water that gathers in the pore spaces of soil very close to the surface. Rosanna Xiastaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 17 Jan. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1607, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unconfined was in 1607

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Cite this Entry

“Unconfined.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unconfined. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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