independent

1. 1.

   a neutral or uncommitted person (especially in politics)

   Synonymsmugwumpfencesitter

   Broaderindividualist

   politics

2. 2.

   a writer or artist who sells services to different employers without a long-term contract with any of them

   Synonymsfreelancerfreelancefree-lancefree lanceself-employed person

   Broaderworker

Other forms of independent

plural

independents·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about independent

What does independent mean?

independent means "free from external control and constraint". That is the primary sense; the word has 6 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in independent?

independent has 4 syllables: in-de-pen-dent. The stress falls on "pen". In IPA it is /ˌɪndɪˈpɛndənt/.

What is another word for independent?

Close synonyms include autonomous, self-governing, sovereign, main, mugwump. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

What is the opposite of independent?

The recorded antonyms are dependent, dependent.

Is independent a common word?

independent is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with independent?

3 words rhyme with independent. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.