footloose

American  

[foot-loos] / ˈfʊtˌlus /

adjective

1. free to go or travel about; not confined by responsibilities.

   After graduation, she backpacked through Europe, footloose and fancy-free.

   Synonyms:

   unattached, fancy-free, carefree, unencumbered

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footloose British  

/ ˈfʊtˌluːs /

adjective

1. free to go or do as one wishes

2. eager to travel; restless

   to feel footloose

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Etymology

Origin of footloose

First recorded in 1690–1700; foot + loose

Example Sentences

Such deceptions mounted as footloose youth matured into a “pathologically restless” adulthood, to quote Matthiessen from a letter to Plimpton.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

"If they leave, either the jobs disappear entirely, or factories scrabble to receive orders from footloose buying agents who care only about cheap labour and do not worry about factory conditions," Bowman told Reuters.

From Reuters • Aug. 16, 2023

Tip the world, and the fearful and the timid, nailed securely and drearily in place, would stay put — but the footloose and bold and adventuresome would roll into L.A. and remake themselves.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2023

Dominique Lapierre, a footloose French journalist who documented beauty, hope and peace amid war, poverty and disease in a long series of popular books, including “Is Paris Burning?”

From New York Times • Dec. 9, 2022

Rowan could imagine the shock it must have caused when it became known that Sara, the sensible village teacher, would leave Rin to marry a footloose Traveler.

From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda