What does liberal mean?

liberal means "showing or characterized by broad-mindedness". That is the primary sense; the word has 7 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in liberal?

liberal has 3 syllables: lib-e-ral. The stress falls on "lib". In IPA it is /ˈlɪˌbɝəl/.

What is another word for liberal?

Close synonyms include broad, large-minded, tolerant, big, bighearted. 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 liberal?

The recorded antonyms are conservative, conservative.

Is liberal a common word?

liberal is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

liberal — meaning, pronunciation and 7 definitions

adjective

5 sensesA word that describes or qualifies a noun.

1.
showing or characterized by broad-mindedness
“a broad political stance”
“generous and broad sympathies”
“a liberal newspaper”
“tolerant of his opponent's opinions”
Synonymsbroad large-minded tolerant
Similarbroad-minded
2.
having political or social views favoring reform and progress
Similarleft
3.
tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition
Antonymsconservative
Similarcivil-libertarian liberalistic neoliberal progressive socialized welfarist
4.
given or giving freely
“was a big tipper”
“the bounteous goodness of God”
“bountiful compliments”
“a freehanded host”
“a handsome allowance”
“Saturday's child is loving and giving”
“a liberal backer of the arts”
“a munificent gift”
“her fond and openhanded grandfather”
Synonymsbig bighearted bounteous bountiful freehanded handsome giving openhanded
Similargenerous
5.
not literal
“a loose interpretation of what she had been told”
“a free translation of the poem”
Synonymsfree loose
Similarinexact

noun

2 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties
Synonymsliberalist progressive
Antonymsconservative
Broaderadult
Narrowerarmchair liberal latitudinarian neoliberal pluralist Whig
2.
a person who favors an economic theory of laissez-faire and self-regulating markets
Broaderadult

Other forms of liberal

plural: liberals·

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 liberal

What does liberal mean?: liberal means "showing or characterized by broad-mindedness". That is the primary sense; the word has 7 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in liberal?: liberal has 3 syllables: lib-e-ral. The stress falls on "lib". In IPA it is /ˈlɪˌbɝəl/.
What is another word for liberal?: Close synonyms include broad, large-minded, tolerant, big, bighearted. 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 liberal?: The recorded antonyms are conservative, conservative.
Is liberal a common word?: liberal is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for liberal come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.

adjective

5 sensesA word that describes or qualifies a noun.

1.
showing or characterized by broad-mindedness
“a broad political stance”
“generous and broad sympathies”
“a liberal newspaper”
“tolerant of his opponent's opinions”
Synonymsbroad large-minded tolerant
Similarbroad-minded
2.
having political or social views favoring reform and progress
Similarleft
3.
tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition
Antonymsconservative
Similarcivil-libertarian liberalistic neoliberal progressive socialized welfarist
4.
given or giving freely
“was a big tipper”
“the bounteous goodness of God”
“bountiful compliments”
“a freehanded host”
“a handsome allowance”
“Saturday's child is loving and giving”
“a liberal backer of the arts”
“a munificent gift”
“her fond and openhanded grandfather”
Synonymsbig bighearted bounteous bountiful freehanded handsome giving openhanded
Similargenerous
5.
not literal
“a loose interpretation of what she had been told”
“a free translation of the poem”
Synonymsfree loose
Similarinexact

noun

2 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties
Synonymsliberalist progressive
Antonymsconservative
Broaderadult
Narrowerarmchair liberal latitudinarian neoliberal pluralist Whig
2.
a person who favors an economic theory of laissez-faire and self-regulating markets
Broaderadult

Other forms of liberal

plural: liberals·

Questions about liberal

What does liberal mean?: liberal means "showing or characterized by broad-mindedness". That is the primary sense; the word has 7 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in liberal?: liberal has 3 syllables: lib-e-ral. The stress falls on "lib". In IPA it is /ˈlɪˌbɝəl/.
What is another word for liberal?: Close synonyms include broad, large-minded, tolerant, big, bighearted. 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 liberal?: The recorded antonyms are conservative, conservative.
Is liberal a common word?: liberal is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

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liberal

adjective

noun

Other forms of liberal

Questions about liberal

Tools

Jump to

Images & video

PDF & writing

Calculate & convert

Health & fitness

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Learn & play

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Search

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liberal

adjective

noun

Other forms of liberal

Questions about liberal