English Explanatory Dictionary

liberal

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Pertaining to those arts and sciences the study of which is considered to provide general knowledge, as opposed to vocational/occupational, technical or mechanical training.
  2. Generous; permitting liberty; willing to give unsparingly.
  3. Ample, abundant; generous in quantity.
  4. Unrestrained, licentious.
  5. Widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions or conventions; permissive.
  6. Open to political or social changes and reforms associated with either classical or modern liberalism.
noun
  1. One with liberal views, supporting individual liberty (see Wikipedia's article on Liberalism).
  2. Someone with progressive or left-wing views, especially on social and environmental issues.
  3. A supporter of any of several liberal parties.
  4. One who favors individual voting rights, human and civil rights, and laissez-faire markets (also called "classical liberal"; compare libertarian).
  5. A conservative, especially a liberal conservative.
noun
  1. A political party and philosophy
  2. A member or supporter of a Liberal Party
  3. A member or supporter of the Liberal Party of Canada, or its predecessors, or provincial equivalents, or their predecessors
  4. A Liberal Democrat.
  5. A Whig.
  6. A member or supporter of the Liberal Party of Australia.
adj
  1. Of or relating to the Liberal party, its membership, or its platform, policy, or viewpoint.
name
  1. An unincorporated community in Spencer County, Indiana, United States.
  2. A city, the county seat of Seward County, Kansas, United States.
  3. A small city in Barton County, Missouri, United States.
  4. An unincorporated community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States.

Pronunciation

lĭbʹ(ə)rəl /ˈlɪb.(ə.)ɹəl/ en-us-liberal.ogg /ˈləb.(ə.)ɹəl/

Word forms

liberal more liberal most liberal liberals

Etymology

The adjective is from Old French liberal, from Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”); it is attested since the 14th century. The noun is first attested in the 1800s.

Synonyms

charitable frolic munificent fouthy free generous giftful giving goodwilly handsome jannock liberal open-handed good-sized hefty prodigious ample big cosmic bodacious broad commodious considerable expansive full giant grand great hench immense jumbo larger than life largifical leviathan long massive mega- overlarge outsized oversize oversized roomy rotund sizeable spacious stonking substantial tall vast voluminous wide astronomic behemothic big fat boxcar Brobdingnagian bulky colossal cyclopean Daniel Lambertish

Antonyms

authoritarian close-minded conservative

Related words

liberalism liberalist liberate liberation libertarian liberty liberal small-l liberal big-L Liberal Liberal-Conservative Conservative

Derived words

archliberal boba liberal classical liberal counterliberal counter-liberal hyperliberal latte liberal Liberal liberal arts liberal conservatism liberal conservatives liberal democracy Liberal Democrat liberal education liberal elite liberalese liberal eugenics liberal feminism liberal guilt liberal homophobia liberalish liberalistic liberalitis liberality liberalization liberalize liberally liberalminded liberal-minded liberal-mindedly liberal-mindedness liberalness liberal parties Liberal Party liberalphobia liberal science liberalspeak liberaltarian Liberal Unionist liberalward Liberal Zionism librandu libshit libtard libturd lieberal limousine liberal milliberal NazLib neoclassical liberal nonliberal overliberal palaeoliberal paleoliberal postliberal preliberal protoliberal pseudoliberal scratch a liberal and a fascist bleeds scratch a liberal and you'll find a fascist

Translations

Finnish: vasemmistolainen Polish: liberał Scottish Gaelic: libearalach
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