unbridled

adjectiveC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechneutralformal · an editor’s judgement

Unbridled means running completely free, like a horse with no reins. Nothing holding it back.

The image is exact, since a bridle is what a rider controls a horse with, and removing it removes all restraint. It attaches to enthusiasm, joy, greed and ambition, so unbridled enthusiasm is a compliment and unbridled greed is not. The word is formal and slightly literary. Unchecked and unrestrained do the same job, and unbridled is the most vivid of the three.

Definitions of unbridled

1adjectiveunbridledCompletely unrestrained.C2
“There was unbridled delight when the result came through.”

Also accepted in games: unrestrained

Where it comes from

From un- + bridled.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 7 of A Man Called Ove.

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