FETTERED Synonyms: 141 Similar and Opposite Words

fettered 1 of 2

adjective

as in bound

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fettered

2 of 2

verb

past tense of fetter

as in tied

to confine or restrain with or as if with chains museum artifacts that serve as somber reminders of the days when slaves were fettered with irons

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as in hampered

to create difficulty for the work or activity of the belief that too many rules and restrictions fetter children's creativity

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Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of fettered

Verb

Perhaps capitalism can be appropriately fettered within the confines of a select few cities, inspiring a nonviolent, nationwide socialist revolution. — Idrees Kahloon, The Atlantic, 6 July 2026 While some players were able to weather that storm – defenseman Joel Edmundson played all 82 games for the first time in a career often fettered by injuries – others paid a price. — Andrew Knoll, Daily News, 30 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fettered

Adjective

The team checked this directly by computing how much of each galaxy's baryon budget actually stayed bound to the system.

— Paul Sutter, Space.com, 9 June 2026
To help calculate a lower bound, Erdős assumed that the points would be laid out in a grid.

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 1 June 2026

Definition of bound

Verb

Wisconsin is experiencing its largest outbreak in decades, while Georgia health officials are working to contain a cluster tied to a metro Atlanta day care center.

— Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2026
But there is something else tied to his Jewish heritage that keeps things in perspective — the struggles his grandmother went through escaping liquidation at the hand of the Nazis in her Polish hometown.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of tied

Verb

The lack of wreckage has hampered efforts to determine the cause of the sinking and where to focus search operations, authorities said.

— ABC News, ABC News, 25 Aug. 2026
The shouting match ultimately ended with Anthony deciding not to testify, a decision his attorneys said hampered his ability to effectively claim self-defense in the killing.

— Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of hampered

Adjective

Other Surrealists, meanwhile, seemed to take from animals a license to exploit other (generally female) bodies, as in Clovis Trouille’sJustine(1937), in which both a naked female figure and a lion are bound and captive.

— Kelly Presutti, ARTnews.com, 28 Aug. 2026
When a regulated utility builds the same project, overruns are passed to captive customers.

— Joshua Macey, Hartford Courant, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of captive

Verb

Kupor, head of the government’s chief human resources agency since July 2025, has publicly argued even jobs conducive to remote work can be impeded by working from home.

— Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2026
Kenya’s Red Cross said difficult terrain and a fire at the site of the crash impeded its search and recovery efforts.

— Alexandra Bacallao, NBC news, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of impeded

Verb

Dodson and Rodriguez had been competing for the starting spot opposite Brooks, but injuries to that unit had watered down the competition and hindered the evaluation process.

— Omar Kelly August 26, Miami Herald, 26 Aug. 2026
The location of his injury has led some to wonder if he’ll be hindered — Judge did slump for a few weeks while playing through pain prior to going on the IL — but Boone didn’t share those concerns on Tuesday.

— Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of hindered

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“Fettered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fettered. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of fettered

adjective

verb

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