free living
- noun
- Many people aspire to a life of free living.
Examples
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She enjoyed a lifestyle of free living, indulging in every pleasure without worrying about expenses.
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He enjoys the free living style of his friends.
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Critics accused the artist of promoting a free living attitude among young people.
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Her free living eventually caught up with her health and finances.
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The novel depicts the free living of the wealthy elite during the Roaring Twenties.
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After years of saving, they finally adopted free living, traveling wherever their whims took them.
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His decision to embrace free living meant lavish parties and spontaneous trips without any restraint.
Antonyms
How Indulgent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'free' (without constraints) modifies 'living' (a way of life), so 'free living' literally means living freely or without restraint. This adjective+noun combination follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
The phrase free living comes from the idea of free + living: imagine people living with no rules, going to late parties and spending money without control. That's why it means 'a lifestyle of enjoying pleasures and having little self-control'.