Uncontrolled

How to spell uncontrolled

12 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce uncontrolled

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does uncontrolled mean?

1. adjectiveNot restrained, regulated, or kept in check.

Uncontrolled in a sentence

• The fire spread quickly because the blaze was completely uncontrolled.

• Her uncontrolled spending left the family with serious debt.

Where does uncontrolled come from?

Language of origin: French

This word builds on 'control', which English took from the Anglo-Norman and Old French 'contrerolle', meaning a 'counter-roll': a duplicate register kept to check the figures on an original account roll. That term came from Latin 'contra', meaning 'against', joined to 'rotulus', a 'little wheel' or 'roll' of parchment, so to control something literally meant to check it against a second copy. From the idea of verifying accounts the verb broadened to mean directing, restraining, or having power over something, a sense settled by the late Middle Ages. The native English prefix 'un-', meaning 'not', was attached to the past participle 'controlled' to describe anything left unchecked or unrestrained. The spelling trap lives in that doubling: the base 'control' ends in a single l, but when the -ed ending is added the stress on the final syllable forces the l to double, giving 'controlled' and therefore 'uncontrolled'.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• control (root, from contra 'against'
• rotulus 'roll')
• -led (past-participle/adjective ending with doubled l)