unbridledadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈbrʌɪdld/, U.S. /ˌənˈbraɪd(ə)ld/ 1. figurative. Not restrained or held in check; absolutely uncontrolled or ungoverned:
a. Of conduct, feeling, utterance, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > freedom of action or from restraint > [adjective] > in action, conduct, or habit
freec1300
unbridledc1374
riotous?1456
liberala1500
unrestrained1531
libertine1593
relaxed1623
long-waisted1647
self-abandoning1817
laissez-aller1818
self-abandoned1833
uninhibited1880
un-Victorian1908
leggo1943
zizzy1966
loose1968
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > freedom of action or from restraint > [adjective] > completely unchecked
unbridledc1374
untempered1377
bridleless?1406
unrepressed?a1425
untemperatea1425
savagea1450
unchecked1469
undaunted1513
uncontrolleda1535
reinless1566
unrestrained1578
ineffrenate1581
unbitteda1586
check-free1598
uncurbed1600
checkless1604
unbounded1608
uncontained?1611
dis'chained1615
ungoverneda1616
unstanched1621
unsneaped1647
incontrolled1650
controlless1657
irregulated1664
curbless1813
do-as-you-please1845
disenchaineda1849
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde iii. 429 He..in hym self wiþ manhod gan restreyne, Eche rakel dede and eche vnbrydled chere.
1412–20 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy i. 2019 No cher vnbridled þat tyme hir asterte.
c1412 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 2433 Vnbridlid wordes ofte man by-weepiþ.
c1530 Remedy of Love Prol. Seeing the manifolde inconuenience Falling by vnbrideled prosperitie.
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. i. f. 4 We reade of none that euer did breake forth into more presumptuous and vnbridled despising of God, than Caius Caligula.
1590 H. Swinburne Briefe Treat. Test. & Willes v. f. 200 By this meane to restraine the vnbrideled lusts of some.
1626 T. Hawkins tr. N. Caussin Holy Court I. 120 After the concupiscences of the belly, commeth vnbridled irreuerence.
1642 J. Milton Apol. Smectymnuus 18 I go on to shew you the unbridl'd impudence of this loose rayler.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 38. ⁋5 When we give the Passion for Praise an unbridled Liberty.
1751 Earl of Orrery Remarks Swift (1752) 99 A wild unbridled indulgence of his own humour and disposition.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth III. vi. 103 His flights are too unbridled for aught but Parnassus.
1855 F. A. Paley Æschylus (1861) Pref. p. xxiii To keep in check the otherwise unbridled passions of a fickle multitude.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. I. iii. 25 An alarming example of what the unbridled rule of the multitude may come to.
b. Of persons, the mind, tongue, etc.
ΚΠ
a1547 Earl of Surrey Paraphr. Psalm lv, in Poems (1964) Rayne those vnbrydled tungs; breake that coniured league.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V 56 b When he had once tamed and framed to his purpose this young unbrideled gentleman.
1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades iv. 69 After our vnbrideled youth coms sage and wrinckled yeares.
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iii. ii. 119 My thoughts were like vnbrideled children grone Too headstrong for their mother. View more context for this quotation
1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 6 Nævius was quickly cast into prison for his unbridl'd pen.
1676 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Iliads i. 322 That they may be To Gods and Men, and to th' unbridled man My witnesses.
1837 A. Alison Hist. Europe from French Revol. VI. l. 652 The usual..intemperance of the unbridled populace of great towns.
1837 G. Bancroft Hist. U.S. II. xiii. 178 They were exposed, without defence, to the fury of an unbridled soldiery.
c. Of natural forces.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > freedom of action or from restraint > [adjective] > natural forces
unbridled?1814
unchained1865
?1814 W. Wordsworth Brownie's Cell 64 Towers rent, winds combating with woods, Lands deluged by unbridled floods.
2. Not furnished with a bridle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [adjective] > having bridle > not bridled
unbridled1553
bridleless1801
1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Cij They are all vnbrideled, hauinge neither withe nor coller aboute theyr neckes.
1587 R. Hakluyt tr. R. de Laudonnière Notable Hist. Foure Voy. Florida f. 12 They fell on running like vnbridled horses, through the middest of the thickest woods.
1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. T. Boccalini Polit. Touch-stone (1674) 253 That unbridled Horse which the State bears for her Ensign.
1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais Pantagruel's Voy.: 4th Bk. Wks. iv. xlviii. 188 An unbridled Mule, with green Trappings.
1798 Hull Advertiser 8 Sept. 1/4 Our picquets were attacked; this caused some bustle, as our horses were all unbridled.
1841 W. Spalding Italy & Ital. Islands II. 27 Pride, clothed in a lion's skin, rushes forward on an unbridled horse.
1872 B. V. Head Sel. Greek Coins Brit. Mus. 16 The unbridled horse may be a symbol of Liberty.
Derivatives
unˈbridledly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > lack of moderation or restraint > [adverb]
unordinatelyc1384
untemperately1398
unmeasurablyc1400
unmannerly?a1425
unmeasurablec1443
inordinatelyc1450
riotously?c1450
immoderately1482
surfeitlyc1503
unsoberlyc1540
dissolutely1561
intemperantly1561
unbridledly1561
hard1569
intemperately1576
ahoit1598
high1602
extravagantly1660
overboard1931
society > authority > lack of subjection > freedom or liberty > freedom of action or from restraint > [adverb] > completely without check
unbridledly1561
uncontrolledly1579
unboundedly1611
uncurbedly1685
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. i. f. 37 Yet the boldnesse of Sophisters could not be restrained by them from babling vnbrideledly.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. vii. 238 Yet true it is, that humane things seeme slide Vnbrideledly with so vncertaine tide [etc.].
unˈbridledness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > lack of moderation or restraint > [noun]
unimetec888
unmethelOE
overdeeda1200
unmetheshipa1250
outragec1325
ragec1330
reveriec1350
delavinessc1380
recolagea1400
dissolutionc1400
superfluityc1405
wantonness1448
intemperancy1532
intemperacy?1541
untemperance?1541
intemperance1547
excess1552
immoderateness1569
intemperateness1571
unbridledness1571
inordinateness1577
untemperateness1578
dissoluteness1580
acrasia1590
acrasy1590
intemperature1602
inordination1615
inordinancya1617
immoderation1640
extravagancy1651
debauch1672
extravagance1676
incontinency1715
extravaganza1754
incontinence1836
unmeasuredness1864
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (v. 5) With howe muche more unbrydlednesse his enemies ronne royet.
a1639 W. Whately Prototypes (1640) ii. xxvi. 65 The unbridlednesse of your evill natures.
a1684 R. Leighton Pract. Comm. 1st Epist. Peter (1694) II. 427 The presumption and unbridledness of youth requires the pressing and binding on of this rule.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.c1374