liberal (English) - Vocabulary & GRE App

Direct Cross-Language Association: “liberal” in German

This word also exists in German! Meaning: “liberal; permissive; allowing personal freedoms”

View German Entry →

liberal

EN • English

//ˈlɪb.(ə.)ɹəl//(Canada, General American)

Direct German Translations & Equivalents:

Click any term below to jump straight to its full vocabulary entry in German:

[DE]Liberaler

Definitions & Usage

adjective

(now rare outside set phrases) 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.

Example: “He had a full education studying the liberal arts.”

adjective

Generous; permitting liberty; willing to give unsparingly.

Example: “He was liberal with his compliments.”

Synonyms:

charitable frolic munificent fouthy free generous giftful giving

Translations:

adjective

Ample, abundant; generous in quantity.

Example: “Add a liberal sprinkling of salt.”

Synonyms:

good-sized hefty prodigious ample big cosmic bodacious broad

Translations:

adjective

(obsolete) Unrestrained, licentious.

Synonyms:

easy free lustful abandoned common fast lascivious lewd

Translations:

adjective

Widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions or conventions; permissive.

Example: “Her parents had liberal ideas about child-rearing.”

Synonyms:

broad-minded open-minded tolerant avuncular catholic forbearing indulgent latitudinarian

adjective

(politics) Open to political or social changes and reforms associated with either classical or modern liberalism.

Example: “Endorsing the liberal anti-interventionist credo that the marketplace should act as the "site of verification," the advocates of white lead opposed government intervention for the sake of open economic competition, which they claimed revealed its true value and thus should be the sole determinant: "When the railways were built, the stage coaches disppeared; they died a timely death. If zinc white is truly superior to white lead, it will kill us in the marketplace, but the government should not intervene." These were the words of Expert-Bezançon, in his February 1903 deposition to the parliamentary committee examining the bill for banning lead-based pigments in paint.”

noun

One with liberal views, supporting individual liberty (see Wikipedia's article on Liberalism).

Translations:[DE]Liberaler

noun

(US politics, Canadian politics, Philippine politics) Someone with progressive or left-wing views, especially on social and environmental issues.

noun

(politics) A supporter of any of several liberal parties.

noun

#10

(UK politics) One who favors individual voting rights, human and civil rights, and laissez-faire markets (also called "classical liberal"; compare libertarian).

noun

#11

(Australian politics) A conservative, especially a liberal conservative.

Notable Literary & Historical Quotes

“Americans remain enamored with Europe's ability to produce the consequential thought for America. It was the same in nearly every liberal field. Education sought its roots in such Europeans as Froebel, Frobenius, and Rousseau. Political science tried to connect to Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Nietzsche, Machiavelli, and Otto von Bismarck, for instance. Economics copied the thought of Adam Smith, […]”

— 1997, Gordon D. Morgan, Toward an American Sociology: Questioning the European Construct, →ISBN, page 45:

“Indeed, the Government has been very liberal in the expenditure of public money”

— 1899, J. M. Baltimore, “Pacific Coast Light Service”, in Overland Monthly, volume 33:

“When he shows improvement she is liberal with her praise and then moves on to the next set of skills to be learnt.”

— 2005, John Gardner, Assessment and Learning, →ISBN, page 50: