free rein

1. 1.

   the removal of constraints

   “he gave free rein to his impulses”

   “they gave full play to the artist's talent”

   Synonymsplay

   Broaderfreedom

Questions about free rein

What does free rein mean?

free rein means "the removal of constraints".

What is another word for free rein?

Close synonyms include play. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is free rein a common word?

free rein is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.