unobligated

Not bound contractually

Unobligated means not committed or bound to a particular purpose.

The term appears most often in government and finance contexts, where unobligated funds or unobligated balances refer to money that has been appropriated but not yet assigned to specific contracts or expenditures: The agency had millions in unobligated funds at the end of the fiscal year.

More broadly, someone unobligated is free from duties or commitments.

voluntary

discretionary

Subject to personal judgment

optionalNot mandatory
noncompulsoryNot required by rule
unforcedNot made to happen

unpressured · elective · spontaneous · willing · uncoerced · nonmandatory · unrequired · permissive · unbidden · gratuitous

free

uncommitted

Not bound to anything

unattachedNot joined or connected
availableReady to be used
disengagedNot participating or invested

unencumbered · open · flexible · unreserved · unoccupied · idle · spare · vacant · disposable · leisure

independent

autonomous

Self-directed and free

self-determinedDecided by oneself
self-reliantAble to provide independently
detachedApart or uninvolved

unaffiliated · nonaligned · uninvolved · unengaged · self-sufficient · individualistic · neutral · impartial · unallied · freestanding

released

exempt

Not subject to

dischargedOfficially let go
absolvedFreed from guilt
acquittedDeclared legally innocent

liberated · pardoned · forgiven · reprieved · exonerated · indemnified · immune · dispensed · relieved · cleared

Opposites

duty or obligation

unobligatedobligated

Required by duty

bound · committed · duty-bound · obliged · required

debt or indebtedness

unobligatedindebted

Owing thanks or money

obligated · owing · in debt · beholden · tributary

Family

obliging, obligation, oblige, obligatory, obliged, obligated, obligate, obligingly, obliges

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Rated G