SHACKLED Synonyms: 135 Similar and Opposite Words

shackled 1 of 2

adjective

as in bolted

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

shackled

2 of 2

verb

past tense of shackle

as in bound

to confine or restrain with or as if with chains unwilling to shackle the dogs to the wall of the house

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in hampered

to create difficulty for the work or activity of shackled by poverty and ignorance

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 shackled

Verb

On Tuesday, Davis appeared in court shackled in handcuffs and wearing a navy blue prison uniform. — Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC news, 13 Oct. 2026 Pike also remained in restraints (handcuffed and shackled to her bed), which complicated her care. — M. Sara Rosenthal, STAT, 13 Oct. 2026 All of the deportees were shackled at the ankles and wrists while in the air. — Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026 Immigrants held in the garage have been shackled while sleeping, the summary of whistleblower allegations continued. — Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 23 Sep. 2026 Nick Reiner appeared at the hearing in a brown jail uniform and was shackled to his chair. — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2026 Today, Barisone claims to have no memory of the time between being in his office up the hill and waking, the next day, with one arm shackled to a hospital bed. — Ian Parker, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026 Otherwise, though, Moore, who like a year ago has been quick out of the blocks with early season goals against Cardiff City and Millwall, was well shackled despite putting in an energetic shift. — Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026 Its citizens held slaves, some of whom were shackled for committing adultery. — Boris Kachka, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shackled

Adjective

Sondheimer has bloodied his hands climbing over a fence to exit a bolted stadium.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2026
Unlike standard wheels, which rely solely on air pressure to push the tire against the rim, beadlocks use a bolted outer ring to physically sandwich the tire in place.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 2 June 2026

Definition of bolted

Verb

Russia’s support for Tehran has been operationally meaningful but carefully bounded.

— Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Foreign Affairs, 16 Oct. 2026
Finally the buck turned, bounded up on top of the bank, still in thickets where no arrow could get through, and started to walk around my tree.

— Al Dawson, Outdoor Life, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of bound

Verb

Creating lightweight device Neuroscientists studying behavioral brain activity have long been hampered by tethered equipment that kept laboratory animals locked in place.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 21 Oct. 2026
That uncertainty leaves the Chargers trying to get anything out of an offense hampered by the limitations of what's available to them right now in what increasingly looks like a lost season.

— ABC News, ABC News, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of hampered

Adjective

There is a punk poetry to that film, an unapologetic spirit that feels so tied to what Araki has done his whole career.

— Matt Minton, Variety, 30 July 2026
Unofficial results for two special elections held Tuesday show the Minnesota House will remain tied heading into the 2026 legislative session.

— Aki Nace, CBS News, 27 Jan. 2026

Definition of tied

Verb

Advocates are fighting to ensure that two potential witnesses who were handcuffed in the back of an ICE vehicle that struck and injured a Houston man are not deported.

— David Hickey, NBC news, 15 Oct. 2026
The two pulled the boy to the ground by his sweatshirt and handcuffed him, police records show.

— Kristian Hernández, San Antonio Express-News, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of handcuffed

Verb

In his ruling, Judge Joseph Montano found that prosecutors had impeded grand jurors who wanted to hear from defense witnesses.

— Gene Maddaus, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
The ongoing conflict that has driven people from their homes in Iran as well as an internet shutdown and a lack of full cooperation from the two governments partially impeded the team's efforts to get information.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of impeded

Verb

Up to five Zeros can be chained together into a 105,000-mAh colossus for extended outdoor adventures.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 14 Oct. 2026
The Democrats wrote in a summary of the allegations that immigrants sleep while restrained with handcuffs, leg irons and belly chains, and even elderly people have been chained for 16 hours a day.

— Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of chained

Browse Nearby Words

shackle

shackled

shackles

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

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

Copy Citation

Synonyms of shackled

adjective

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

jilt

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes