Meaning of liberal in English

liberal

adjective

/ˈlɪb.ər.əl/ uk

/ˈlɪb.ər.əl/

liberal adjective (SOCIETY)

Add to word list Add to word list

respecting and allowing many different types of beliefs or behavior:

a liberal society/attitude

Her parents were far more liberal than mine.

Opposite

illiberal formal

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

willing to consider new or different ideas

open-mindedThe campaign attracts progressive, open-minded people.
tolerantThey are very tolerant of different religions in that country.
broad-mindedTravel helps you become more broad-minded.
receptiveHe was very receptive to the idea.

See more results »

More examplesFewer examples

Espousal of such liberal ideas won't make her very popular around here.
Despite his apparent liberal views, he's really something of a puritan.
His natural supporters are the urban poor, and educated people of a liberal turn of mind.
He has very liberal attitudes toward sex.
My family are very liberal-minded.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Open-minded

See more results »

liberal adjective (POLITICS)

believing in or allowing a lot of personal freedom, and believing that society should change gradually so that money, property, and power are shared more fairly:

He absorbed the attitudes of his politically liberal parents.

believing in or allowing a lot of freedom for businesses to buy, sell, and make money without many rules or limits, and with low taxes:

Polling data shows these voters are socially conservative and economically liberal.

More examplesFewer examples

Her politics have become more liberal over the past few years.
I'm sick of bleeding-heart liberal politicians.
She is interested in liberal policies.
He believes that the liberal agenda is damaging to our country.
Discussions on farming will quickly turn into a dispute with liberal free-marketeers.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Politics - general words

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Economics

liberal adjective (GENEROUS)

formal

giving or given in a generous way:

He was very liberal with the wine.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

freely giving money, help, etc. to others

generousThey were very generous and donated to several charities.
open-handedShe is incredibly open-handed and won't hesitate to donate whenever asked.
free withOur professor is quite free with his time and will often extend office hours to accommodate extra students.
philanthropicThere are fewer philanthropic billionaires than one would assume.
charitableOxfam is a well-known charitable organization working to end global poverty.

See more results »

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Plenty and abundant

See more results »

liberal adjective (NOT EXACT)

not exact; without attention to or interest in detail:

a liberal interpretation of the law

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Wrong

See more results »

Related words

liberalism
liberality
liberally

liberal

noun [ C ]

/ˈlɪb.ər.əl/ uk

/ˈlɪb.ər.əl/

liberal noun [C] (SOCIETY)

someone who respects many different types of beliefs or behavior:

I am a liberal who believes in tolerance.

More examplesFewer examples

The city has a reputation for equality and tolerance, and has traditionally been a haven for liberals.
Liberals preach freedom of thought.
They are the sort of fake liberals who proclaim tolerance out of one side of their mouths and issue snobbish put-downs out of the other.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Open-minded

See more results »

liberal noun [C] (POLITICS)

someone who believes in personal freedom and that society should change gradually so that money, property, and power are shared more fairly:

She says she is proud to identify herself as a liberal and a feminist.

finance & economics specialized

someone who believes businesses should have a lot of freedom to buy, sell, and make money without many rules or limits, and with low taxes:

Three strands make up the party: the moderate reforming center, the Thatcherite economic liberals, and the pro-clerical conservatives.

More examplesFewer examples

"This is the first time anyone has referred to me as a liberal," he said. "Usually I'm pretty far over on the right."
Dole portrayed the president in campaign speeches as a "closet liberal."
Most of them are economic liberals or populists, and support tax cuts and government-spending reductions.
Economic liberals eventually became Republicans, political liberals Democrats.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Politics - general words

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Economics

(Definition of liberal from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

liberal | Intermediate English

liberal

adjective

/ˈlɪb·ər·əl/

liberal adjective (SOCIAL)

Add to word list Add to word list

allowing many different types of beliefs or behavior:

a liberal society/person

liberal adjective (POLITICS)

politics & government

tending to emphasize the need to make new laws when necessary because of changing conditions and to depend on the government to provide social services:

a liberal policy/position

liberal adjective (GENEROUS)

giving or given in a generous way:

Some merchants offer very liberal return policies, but others are strict.

liberal adjective (NOT EXACT)

without attention to or interest in small details:

Other teachers are a lot more liberal about spelling errors than Mr. Brady.

liberal

noun [ C ]

/ˈlɪb·ə·rəl/

liberal noun [C] (POLITICALLY LIBERAL PERSON)

a person who thinks the government needs to make new laws when necessary because of changing conditions and who believes that the government should provide social services:

Liberals in Congress support the bill.

(Definition of liberal from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

liberal | Business English

liberal

adjective

/ˈlɪbərəl/ us

Add to word list Add to word list

respecting and allowing many different types of beliefs or behaviour:

a liberal society/attitude/view Changing attitudes to sexuality are a reflection of a more liberal society.

a liberal policy/stance The government defends its liberal policy on soft drugs.

POLITICS

used to describe political beliefs and groups that support more personal freedom and a fairer sharing of wealth and power in society:

The federal government is bound to be a coalition involving the liberal party.

ECONOMICS, POLITICS

used to describe an economic system that allows industry to be free to develop without the involvement of government:

The successes of liberal economic policies in the US and Britain act as powerful examples.

giving or given in a generous way:

Terms were liberal, with small down payments and government financing.

not exact, and without attention to or interest in detail:

They now take a more liberal interpretation of their powers.

liberal

noun [ C ]

/ˈlɪbərəl/ us

someone who respects many different types of beliefs or behaviour:

Liberals believe that in order to defend our own freedom we ought to defend those of our fellow citizens.

someone who supports personal freedom and a fairer sharing of wealth and power in society:

He described his opponent as a liberal who would tax the rich.

(Definition of liberal from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of liberal

liberal

And peace and multiculturalism, though the purview of love-children, was not yet a "liberal" scourge.

From Huffington Post

Another liberal who hasn't read this bill weighs in on how we will all benefit from this tyranny.

From Washington Post

But from the way the media and liberal pundits pounced on his remarks, you'd think he had said something profoundly indecent.

From Washington Times

But keep the politicians, special interest groups and liberal reporters out of it.

From TIME

This lost liberal art encourages scholars to understand history from the inside out.

From The Atlantic

This was just a little peak at the motivation and tone of a lot of these liberal shows.

From CNN

I also suppose opening up the oil fields is a liberal move.

From Washington Post

These three myths are long-standing and both liberals and conservatives draw upon them to advance their political aims.

From Huffington Post

Liberal talking points are wrapped in meta-news about liberals and their talking points.

From ThinkProgress

This doesn't mean that liberal equality advocates must turn more conservative in order to advocate to the middle.

From Slate Magazine

Liberals want to fund rail because they want to change behavior.

From Slate Magazine

And this, her latest effort is a liberal mix of both.

From Huffington Post

Many of the activists in the dining room that night were there because they thought their states' liberals needed more edge.

From The Atlantic

When it comes to $ex both liberal and conservative men needed.

From CNN

Finally, the volunteers noted whether they considered themselves politically liberal or conservative.

From Huffington Post

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of liberal?

Translations of liberal

in Chinese (Traditional)

社會, 自由開放的，開放的，開明的, 政治…

in Chinese (Simplified)

社会, 自由开放的，开放的，开明的, 政治…

in Spanish

liberal, liberal [masculine-feminine, singular]…

in Portuguese

liberal, generoso/-osa, liberal [masculine-feminine]…

in more languages

in Japanese

in Turkish

in French

in Catalan

in Dutch

in Arabic

in Czech

in Danish

in Indonesian

in Thai

in Vietnamese

in Polish

in Malay

in German

in Norwegian

in Korean

in Ukrainian

in Italian

in Russian

進歩的な, 厳格でない, 進歩主義者…

liberal, yeni ve farklı fikirlere açık ve kabul eden, toplumun değişmesine paralel ve sosyal hizmetleri içeren yeni kanunlar yapılması gerekliliğini vurgulayan siyasî düşünceyi taşıyan…

libéral/-ale, abondant/-ante, libéral/-ale [masculine-feminine]…

liberal…

royaal, ruimdenkend, liberaal…

مُتَحَرِّر, ليبرالي…

štědrý, liberální, liberál…

generøs, rundhåndet, tolerant…