Adjective

(en-adj)

Not containable or controllable.

* 1858 , , Nicholas Nickleby , ch. 15:

"...here the two friends burst into a variety of giggles, and glanced from time to time, over the tops of their pocket-handkerchiefs, at Nicholas, who from a state of unmixed astonishment, gradually fell into one of irrepressible laughter...

(of a person) Especially high-spirited, outspoken, or insistent.

* 1875 , , The Law and the Lady , ch. 3:

The irrepressible landlady gave the freest expression to her feelings.

* 1900 , , Lord Jim , ch. 19:

Schomberg, . . . an irrepressible retailer of all the scandalous gossip of the place, would, with both elbows on the table, impart an adorned version of the story to any guest.

* 1901 , , The Octopus , Book II, Conclusion:

"The irrepressible Yank is knocking at the doors of their temples and he will want to sell 'em carpet-sweepers for their harems."

* 1963 July 12, " People," Time :

It was Paris' irrepressible High Fashion Doyenne Gabrielle ("Coco") Chanel, 80, so-soing this and high-hatting that, while Women's Wear Daily took notes.

* 2012 July 24, , " Sherman Hemsley, ‘Jeffersons’ Star, Is Dead at 74," New York Times (retrieved 16 June 2013):

High-strung and irrepressible , George Jefferson quickly became one of America’s most popular television characters, a high-energy, combative black man who backed down to no one.

Adjective

(en adjective)

Not bound by chains or shackles.

* 1841 — , ch. 68

In a corner of the market among the pens for cattle, Barnaby knelt down, and pausing every now and then to pass his hand over his father’s face, or look up to him with a smile, knocked off his irons. When he had seen him spring, a free man, to his feet, and had given vent to the transport of delight which the sight awakened, he went to work upon his own, which soon fell rattling down upon the ground, and left his limbs unfettered .

(by extension) Not restricted.

*{{quote-news

, year=2012 , date=April 19 , author=Josh Halliday , title=Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=Alexander says she has been accused of censorship "worse than a Syrian dictator" over her quest to have gang-related videos taken down. But her campaign shows the debate over a completely unfettered internet is not clear-cut.}}

* 1916 — )

We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible.