footloose

English

Etymology

foot +‎ loose

Adjective

footloose (comparative more footloose, superlative most footloose)

1. Tending to travel or do as one pleases; readily without many commitments or responsibility.

   He was footloose in his youth.

   • 2000, Zadie Smith, White Teeth, Penguin Books, published 2001, page 465:

     Because we often imagine that immigrants are constantly on the move, footloose, able to change course at any moment.

   • 2021 February 18, A. O. Scott, “‘Nomadland’ Review: The Unsettled Americans”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     […] They are footloose but also desperate, squeezed by rising inequality and a frayed safety net.

2. (nautical) Of a sail: not properly secured at the bottom.

Derived terms

• footloose and fancy free

Translations

tending to travel

• German: ungebunden
• Spanish: despreocupado (es), sin compromiso, libre (es)

(nautical) not properly secured at the bottom

See also

• itchy feet
• wanderlust