liberal
42
5.8
- adjective
- /ˈlɪbərəl/
:
flexible
- Paul presents us with a somewhat liberal point of view.
So it's not just some liberal explanation.
- So it's not just some liberal explanation.
Examples
-
The professor encouraged a more liberal interpretation of the poem to enhance creativity.
-
I was glad then, in that moment, to have a good liberal arts education.
Fiction book (1999) -
But where you are not known, why, there they show something too... liberal.
-
Yeah, well, whichever one has a school with a strong liberal arts program.
-
how do you feel about the liberal use of mistletoe?
-
There's nothing like a liberal education!
-
The participants attended a small, private liberal arts college located in a large city in the Midwestern United States.
Academic text (2013) -
But perhaps more importantly for our purposes, a liberal education is a freeing education.
Academic text (1999) -
In a liberal translation of the text, the writer allowed for personal expression instead of a word-for-word approach.
-
She believes that a liberal viewpoint allows for greater understanding of different cultures.
Synonyms
134
3.0
Not strictly organized or controlled, often a group of separate people
27
5.5
Not a word by word translation, using changes to show meaning
Antonyms
Idioms
A saying that some people who call themselves liberal may show authoritarian views when challenged
Compounds
25
3.7
College or university studies that teach broad knowledge and thinking skills across subjects like literature and history
11
3.6
A UK political party in the centre that supports liberal social policies and reforms to help working people
- Literature
3
7.7
A group of people with liberal views who have more money, status, and influence
- Offensive
2
9.4
A rich person who supports liberal ideas but is out of touch with ordinary people
How Literal
Surface Forms
Morphology
liberal = liber + al
The sense 'not strict; broad' is an extension from the idea of 'free/broad' and is somewhat inferable but not fully literal for learners.
Etymology
Liberal comes from the Latin liber meaning 'free', and it can describe a loose or 'free' way of reading rules or text, so a 'liberal' interpretation allows a broad, not strict, meaning.