footloose

adjective

ˈfu̇t-ˌlüs How to pronounce footloose (audio)
Definition of footloosenext
1
as in loose
not bound, confined, or detained by force after having been chained for so long, the suddenly footloose dog ran helter-skelter about the yard

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in freewheeling
not held back by rules, duties, or worries wished I could be as carefree as that footloose toddler

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 footloose Of all the world’s footloose international students, 15 percent come to the United States, the largest share of any country in the world. — David G. Victor, Foreign Affairs, 28 May 2025 Defiant and determined to get back home on his own to his mother and grandfather Gerald (Paul Weller) in East London, George encounters real danger as a distraught Rita tries to find her footloose son. — Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Oct. 2024 The footloose couple performed on the opening night of the Symphony of Dance tour in Melbourne, Fl. — Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 17 Apr. 2024 Huppert plays a footloose and intense French woman at large in Korea and vaguely making ends meet as an untrained language tutor with eccentric methods. — Patrick Frater, Variety, 19 Feb. 2024 See All Example Sentences for footloose
Recent Examples of Synonyms for footloose
  1. loose
  2. freewheeling
  3. free
  4. casual
  5. unbound
Adjective
  • Maybe the shooting shook something loose in her and has amplified her worst tendencies.
    — Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Think tombstones, solid skeletons, signs or other decorations that hold their shape and don’t have loose or dangling parts.
    — Katie Koschalk, Scientific American, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of loose
Adjective
  • Among them is his contention that a more freewheeling AI landscape might actually help humans keep the technology in check.
    — Will Oremus, The Atlantic, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Fox News Channel’s Will Cain speaks into what appears to be a large radio microphone — a signifier of the more freewheeling conversations held by video podcasters –during his daily afternoon hour on the network’s weekday schedule.
    — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of freewheeling
Adjective
  • Speed is now free, which means, for the first time in history, speed is worthless.
    — Matt Alt, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2026
  • However, the research does not establish that the new microcomb can independently provide GPS-free navigation.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of free
Adjective
  • The casual setup and price points at Tiger’s Den swing the sushi pendulum away from ultra luxury and back toward its origins in Japan as a quick, working-class meal.
    — Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2026
  • The trick is to break up the jacket-and-skirt combo and pair each with more casual pieces that take the edge off its classic finish.
    — Tatiana Ojea, Glamour, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of casual
Adjective
  • Is realism based only on minds untouched by illness or some other distorting factor, or at least not so touched that that mind becomes, as my grandmother’s is, unbound?
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 July 2026
  • Then the coach known as the most impulsive man on an NFL sideline runs that stop sign, grits his teeth and breaks unbound into character.
    — Michael Silver, New York Times, 16 June 2026
Definition of unbound

Browse Nearby Words

footlockers
footloose
footman
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Cite this Entry

“Footloose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/footloose. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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