liberal

Liberal means favorable to reform or progress, such as in religion or politics. Generally, a person is considered to be liberal if they support changes or reforms to something, as in The pastor was especially liberal and argued for changes to the ceremony to better fit with modern society. 

Progressive is a commonly used synonym for this sense of liberal, while conservative, meaning in favor of existing conditions or restoring older ones, an antonym.

Liberal also means of, related to, based on, or supporting liberalism, a philosophy that argues for maximum individual freedoms and liberties.

Somewhat related to this, liberal can mean open minded or tolerant, as in She had a liberal attitude toward foreign immigrants.

Liberal is also used to mean not strict or not literal, as in The judge practiced a liberal interpretation of the truancy laws, often not punishing students for skipping school. 

And liberal is used to describe generous giving, as in John was a liberal donor to his college. 

Finally, liberal can be a synonym for abundant or ample, as in He dumped a liberal amount of sprinkles on his ice cream. 

As a noun, liberal is used to refer to a person who has liberal views, especially on politics or religion. When capitalized, Liberal refers to a member of a liberal political party, such as the Liberal party of Great Britain.

Example: The prime minister faced intense criticism from the liberal members of the government, who demanded change to the traditional policies.  

The first records of liberal come from around 1350. It ultimately comes from the Latin līberālis, meaning “befitting the free, honorable.” The emphasis of freedom is a major point of liberalism.

What is considered liberal is often subjective. It depends heavily on the beliefs or attitudes of the person using the word, especially in relation to the society or organization they belong to.

For example, in the United States the word liberal is often used to refer to the Democratic Party and its beliefs, while the Republican Party is considered conservative. However, a person from the United Kingdom might consider both parties to be conservative, as neither one has historically argued for more liberal policies found in the UK, such as universal public healthcare.

What are some other forms related to liberal?

• liberally (adverb)
• liberalness (noun)
• antiliberal (adjective, noun)
• antiliberally (adverb)

What are some synonyms for liberal?

• progressive
• enlightened
• flexible
• permissive
• generous

What are some words that share a root or word element with liberal? 

• liberalism
• liberty

What are some words that often get used in discussing liberal?

• left wing
• conservative
• policies
• beliefs
• attitude

Liberal is most often used to mean favorable to reform or progress, even when that is used as an insult.

I am a proud Liberal from Oklahoma – a very red state.

— Debbie Wade (@dwade828) March 6, 2010

This thing where the minority of right wing Jews in America think they somehow have the authority to excommunicate the liberal-left majority from Judaism is really tiresome. Our values are no less Jewish because we seek to apply them universally.

— Adam Serwer 🍝 (@AdamSerwer) November 21, 2019

As a liberal-leaning public educator who believes in social justice I think this is one of the stupidest takes I’ve seen on Twitter. I like 75% of these movies.

— Steven Zapata (@szilla11) April 1, 2021

Which of the following is a synonym of liberal?

A. nostalgic
B. conservative
C. progressive
D. unpredictable