civil-libertarian

1 8.0

Being active in protecting people's rights and freedoms

adjective
/ˈsɪvəl ˌlɪbərˈtɛriən/

: civil-libertario

His civil-libertarian beliefs drive him to oppose laws that infringe upon personal freedoms.
Civil-libertarian groups

Examples

The civil-libertarian organization works tirelessly to protect individual rights and freedoms.
Civil libertarian groups support these professional values.

Academic text (1999)
Politically, I have always been a strong civil libertarian, believing that the Bill of Rights means what it says—especially the First Amendment, on which I come close to being an absolutist.

Academic text (2002)
As with the custody orders invalidated in Katz, such measures fell afoul of received civil libertarian-First Amendment premises, that is, extrapolations of influential court opinions such as both Justice William O. Douglas's majority opinion.

Academic text (1995)
Many young activists identify as civil-libertarians, advocating for transparent government practices.

Synonyms

liberalistic

vscivil-libertarian

1 7.8

To support individual freedom and rights protected by law

is more active in protecting civil liberties through direct action

How Supportive

civil-libertarian

1 8.0

sympathetic

187 3.4

concerned

360 3.5

indifferent

6 3.7

Surface Forms

civil-libertarian positive

Morphology

civil-libertarian = civil + libertarian (transparent) = civil + libertarian

The compound combines two recognizable modern English words whose combined meaning ('concerned with civil liberties in a libertarian sense') follows straightforward composition.

Etymology

Civil-libertarian combines civil, which comes from a word meaning 'citizen', and libertarian, which comes from liberty, meaning 'freedom'. So a civil-libertarian is someone who works to protect the legal 'rights' and 'freedoms' of citizens.