Synonyms

out of control

Idioms

Also, out of hand. No longer under management, direction, or regulation; unmanageable or unruly. For example, Housing costs are out of control, or The children were getting out of hand again. The first term uses control in the sense of “restraint,” a usage dating from the late 1500s; the variant uses hand in the sense of “power” or “authority,” and dates from the late 1800s.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Even the slightest misstep made me feel like I was about to careen out of control.

From The Wall Street Journal

Leah reported that the bed, with Calvin still in it, broke apart, “the head-board in one place, the foot-board in another …” How quickly these spirits had grown out of control.

From Literature

To some, the pessimism surrounding Microsoft’s stock has gotten out of control.

From MarketWatch

“The latest events strengthen the hand of those in the U.S. who say Mexico is getting out of control,” he says.

From Barron's

War has a funny way of creeping up, and since we’ve had two long wars in the region in the past 20 years — and one short one in the previous decade — it’s quite easy to imagine how this could all hurtle out of control.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023