décomplexer

To free someone from their inhibitions or complexes — help them stop feeling ashamed or self-conscious about something. The past participle décomplexé(e) became a well-known media and political adjective in the 2000s, especially in phrases like 'la droite décomplexée.'

• Ce cours de théâtre l'a beaucoup décomplexée. — That drama class really helped her get over her self-consciousness.
• La marque veut décomplexer les femmes par rapport à leur corps. — The brand wants to free women from feeling self-conscious about their bodies.
• On parle souvent d'un capitalisme décomplexé pour désigner une économie sans scrupules affichés. — People often talk about "unabashed capitalism" to describe an economy that openly has no scruples.

The adjective décomplexé(e) carries real political weight in French media beyond its literal 'uninhibited' meaning — learners who only know the base sense can miss the pointed, often critical, connotation it carries in political commentary.

• politics "La droite décomplexée" — A phrase widely used to describe Nicolas Sarkozy's political project in the 2000s — a French political right openly asserting conservative positions without the self-consciousness that had marked it since the postwar era.