Definition of "open-ended" []

• Not restrained by definite limits, restrictions, or structure. (adjective)
• Allowing for or adaptable to change. (adjective)
• Inconclusive or indefinite: "faintly bemused and uneasily open-ended about the whole horrible business” ( Charles Michener). (adjective)
• Allowing for a spontaneous, unstructured response: an open-ended question. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "He’s a very clever fellow and, through me, he was aware ofthis upcoming mission and he thought fast, and came up with a way of keeping West happy but also keeping him in the fold: he assigned West to me, as part of a long-term open-ended mission, to take part in archaeological research connected to the discovery of the Capstone."
• "Mann 1973 raised questions about the “interminability” of long-term open-ended treatment and suggested that vaguely defined goals and therapist’s countertransference problems caused inappropriately prolonged therapy."
• "This is what makes being human so open-ended and laden with the potential for surprise and never-before-imagined possibilities."