[syn: free, loose, liberal]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Liberal \Lib"er*al\ (l[i^]b"[~e]r*al), a. [F. lib['e]ral, L.
liberalis, from liber free; perh. akin to libet, lubet, it
pleases, E. lief. Cf. Deliver.]
1. Free by birth; hence, befitting a freeman or gentleman;
refined; noble; independent; free; not servile or mean;
as, a liberal ancestry; a liberal spirit; liberal arts or
studies. " Liberal education." --Macaulay. " A liberal
tongue." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. Bestowing in a large and noble way, as a freeman;
generous; bounteous; open-handed; as, a liberal giver. "
Liberal of praise." --Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
Infinitely good, and of his good
As liberal and free as infinite. --Milton.
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3. Bestowed in a large way; hence, more than sufficient;
abundant; bountiful; ample; profuse; as, a liberal gift; a
liberal discharge of matter or of water.
[1913 Webster]
His wealth doth warrant a liberal dower. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
4. Not strict or rigorous; not confined or restricted to the
literal sense; free; as, a liberal translation of a
classic, or a liberal construction of law or of language.
[1913 Webster]
5. Not narrow or contracted in mind; not selfish; enlarged in
spirit; catholic.
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6. Free to excess; regardless of law or moral restraint;
licentious. " Most like a liberal villain." --Shak.
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7. Not bound by orthodox tenets or established forms in
political or religious philosophy; independent in opinion;
not conservative; friendly to great freedom in the
constitution or administration of government; having
tendency toward democratic or republican, as distinguished
from monarchical or aristocratic, forms; as, liberal
thinkers; liberal Christians; the Liberal party.
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I confess I see nothing liberal in this " order of
thoughts," as Hobbes elsewhere expresses it.
--Hazlitt.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Liberal has of, sometimes with, before the thing
bestowed, in before a word signifying action, and to
before a person or object on which anything is
bestowed; as, to be liberal of praise or censure;
liberal with money; liberal in giving; liberal to the
poor.
[1913 Webster]
The liberal arts. See under Art.
Liberal education, education that enlarges and disciplines
the mind and makes it master of its own powers,
irrespective of the particular business or profession one
may follow.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Generous; bountiful; munificent; beneficent; ample;
large; profuse; free.
Usage: Liberal, Generous. Liberal is freeborn, and
generous is highborn. The former is opposed to the
ordinary feelings of a servile state, and implies
largeness of spirit in giving, judging, acting, etc.
The latter expresses that nobleness of soul which is
peculiarly appropriate to those of high rank, -- a
spirit that goes out of self, and finds its enjoyment
in consulting the feelings and happiness of others.
Generosity is measured by the extent of the sacrifices
it makes; liberality, by the warmth of feeling which
it manifests.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Liberal \Lib"er*al\, n.
One who favors greater freedom in political or religious
matters; an opponent of the established systems; a reformer;
in English politics, a member of the Liberal party, so
called. Cf. Whig.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
liberal
adj 1: showing or characterized by broad-mindedness; "a broad
political stance"; "generous and broad sympathies"; "a
liberal newspaper"; "tolerant of his opponent's opinions"
[syn: broad, large-minded, liberal, tolerant]
2: having political or social views favoring reform and progress
3: tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy,
or tradition [ant: conservative]
4: given or giving freely; "was a big tipper"; "the bounteous
goodness of God"; "bountiful compliments"; "a freehanded
host"; "a handsome allowance"; "Saturday's child is loving
and giving"; "a liberal backer of the arts"; "a munificent
gift"; "her fond and openhanded grandfather" [syn: big,
bighearted, bounteous, bountiful, freehanded,
handsome, giving, liberal, openhanded]
5: not literal; "a loose interpretation of what she had been
told"; "a free translation of the poem" [syn: free,
loose, liberal]
n 1: a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and
reform and the protection of civil liberties [syn:
liberal, liberalist, progressive] [ant:
conservative, conservativist]
2: a person who favors an economic theory of laissez-faire and
self-regulating markets
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
207 Moby Thesaurus words for "liberal":
Gospel side, abounding, abundant, advanced, affluent,
all-sufficing, amiable, ample, aplenty, benevolent, big,
big person, bighearted, bottomless, bounteous, bountiful, broad,
broad-gauge person, broad-minded, cantorial side, charitable,
chivalrous, copious, cordial, counterclockwise, diffuse,
disinterested, dispassionate, ecumenicist, effuse, eleemosynary,
elevated, epidemic, exalted, exhaustless, extensive, extravagant,
exuberant, fair, far-embracing, far-extending, far-flung,
far-flying, far-going, far-ranging, far-reaching, fat, fertile,
flexible, flush, forbearing, free, free lance, free spirit,
free trader, freehanded, freehearted, freethinker, freethinking,
friendly, full, galore, generous, genial, giving, gracious, great,
great of heart, greathearted, handsome, hearty, heroic, high,
high-minded, hospitable, humanistic, idealistic, impartial,
in plenty, in quantity, independent, indiscriminate, individualist,
individualistic, indulgent, inexhaustible, isolationist, knightly,
larboard, large, large-scale, largehearted, latitudinarian, lavish,
left, left hand, left of center, left wing, left-hand,
left-hand side, left-wing, left-winger, left-wingish, leftist,
lenient, levorotatory, liberalist, liberalistic, libertarian,
libertine, lofty, loose, luxuriant, magnanimous, many, maximal,
much, mugwump, munificent, near, near side, neighborly, neutral,
nigh, noble, noble-minded, nonpartisan, numerous, on the left,
open, open-handed, open-minded, openhanded, openhearted, opulent,
overflowing, philanthropic, plenitudinous, plenteous, plentiful,
plenty, port, port tack, portside, prevailing, prevalent, princely,
prodigal, productive, profuse, profusive, progressive,
progressivist, progressivistic, radical, rampant, receptive,
reformer, reformist, replete, rich, rife, riotous,
rugged individualist, running over, sinister, sinistral,
sinistrocerebral, sinistrocular, sinistrogyrate, sinistrorse,
stintless, sublime, superabundant, sweeping, teeming, third force,
third world, tolerant, unbigoted, ungrudging, unjaundiced,
unopinionated, unprejudiced, unselfish, unsparing, unstinted,
unstinting, verso, warm, warmhearted, wealthy, welcoming,
welfare stater, well-found, well-furnished, well-provided,
well-stocked, wholesale, wide, wide-extended, wide-extending,
wide-ranging, wide-reaching, wide-stretching, widespread,
wrong side
U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000):
Liberal, MO -- U.S. city in Missouri
Population (2000): 779
Housing Units (2000): 361
Land area (2000): 0.837014 sq. miles (2.167855 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.006604 sq. miles (0.017103 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 0.843618 sq. miles (2.184958 sq. km)
FIPS code: 41906
Located within: Missouri (MO), FIPS 29
Location: 37.558860 N, 94.520546 W
ZIP Codes (1990): 64762
Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
Headwords:
Liberal, MO
Liberal
U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000):
Liberal, KS -- U.S. city in Kansas
Population (2000): 19666
Housing Units (2000): 7014
Land area (2000): 11.058466 sq. miles (28.641294 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.138334 sq. miles (0.358283 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 11.196800 sq. miles (28.999577 sq. km)
FIPS code: 39825
Located within: Kansas (KS), FIPS 20
Location: 37.043418 N, 100.928133 W
ZIP Codes (1990): 67901
Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
Headwords:
Liberal, KS
Liberal