Synonyms for liberal
ˈlɪb ər əl, ˈlɪb rəllib·er·al

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. liberal

   Generous (Latin genus, a race) primarily signifies having the qualities worthy of noble or honorable birth; hence, free and abundant in giving, giving freely, heartily, and self-sacrificingly. As regards giving, generous refers rather to the self-sacrificing heartiness of the giver, liberal to the amount of the gift; a child may show himself generous in the gift of an apple, a millionaire makes a liberal donation; a generous gift, however, is commonly thought of as both ample and hearty. A munificent gift is vast in amount, whatever the motive of its bestowal. One may be free with another's money; he can be generous only with his own. Disinterested suggests rather the thought of one's own self-denial; generous, of one's hearty interest in another's welfare or happiness. One is magnanimous by a greatness of soul (Latin magnus, great, and animus, soul) that rises above all that is poor, mean, or weak, especially above every petty or ignoble motive or feeling pertaining to one's self, and thus above resentment of injury or insult; one is generous by a kindness of heart that would rejoice in the welfare rather than in the punishment of the offender.

   Synonyms:
   bountiful, chivalrous, disinterested, free, free-handed, free-hearted, generous, magnanimous, munificent, noble, open-handed, open-hearted

   Antonyms:
   avaricious, close, covetous, greedy, ignoble, illiberal, mean, miserly, niggardly, parsimonious, penurious, petty, rapacious, stingy

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. liberal

   Synonyms:
   free, gentle, refined, polished, generous, bountiful, catholic, enlarged, copious, ample, profuse, large, handsome, munificent, abundant, noble-minded, bounteous, tolerant, plentiful

   Antonyms:
   churlish, low, mean, boorish, ungenerous, illiberal, grasping, niggardly, avaricious, greedy, gainful, narrow-minded, bigoted, prejudiced, contracted, scanty, inadequate

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. liberal, liberalist, progressivenoun

   a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties

   Synonyms:
   progressive, imperfect, liberalist, imperfect tense, progressive tense, continuous tense

   Antonyms:
   conservativist, conservative, narrow, exact, hidebound, buttoned-up, ungenerous, standpat(a), fusty, traditionalist, blimpish, stingy, right, nonprogressive, narrow-minded, ultraconservative, unprogressive, center

2. liberaladjective

   a person who favors an economic theory of laissez-faire and self-regulating markets

   Synonyms:
   progressive, liberalist

   Antonyms:
   conservative, conservativist, exact, ungenerous, narrow, center, stingy, right, hidebound, buttoned-up, blimpish, traditionalist, nonprogressive, narrow-minded, standpat(a), fusty, ultraconservative, unprogressive

3. broad, large-minded, liberal, tolerantadjective

   showing or characterized by broad-mindedness

   "a broad political stance"; "generous and broad sympathies"; "a liberal newspaper"; "tolerant of his opponent's opinions"

   Synonyms:
   broad, bounteous, big, freehanded, full(a), panoptic, all-encompassing, extensive, all-inclusive, loose, unspecific, spacious, broad(a), patient of, encompassing, blanket(a), kind, free, all-embracing, across-the-board, tolerant, resistant, giving, bighearted, large-minded, wide, openhanded, handsome, bountiful, unsubtle

   Antonyms:
   conservative, conservativist, fusty, ungenerous, ultraconservative, narrow-minded, center, right, standpat(a), unprogressive, narrow, nonprogressive, buttoned-up, blimpish, traditionalist, stingy, exact, hidebound

4. liberaladjective

   having political or social views favoring reform and progress

   Synonyms:
   handsome, large-minded, giving, bighearted, openhanded, bounteous, broad, bountiful, free, loose, tolerant, freehanded, big

   Antonyms:
   conservativist, conservative, ultraconservative, exact, unprogressive, narrow-minded, buttoned-up, nonprogressive, stingy, blimpish, fusty, narrow, hidebound, right, center, standpat(a), ungenerous, traditionalist

5. liberaladjective

   tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or tradition

   Synonyms:
   handsome, large-minded, giving, bighearted, openhanded, bounteous, broad, bountiful, free, loose, tolerant, freehanded, big

   Antonyms:
   conservative, conservativist, right, ungenerous, narrow-minded, center, traditionalist, exact, blimpish, buttoned-up, narrow, standpat(a), unprogressive, hidebound, nonprogressive, fusty, ultraconservative, stingy

6. big, bighearted, bounteous, bountiful, freehanded, handsome, giving, liberal, openhandedadjective

   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"

   Synonyms:
   plentiful, magnanimous, bountiful, prominent, big, vainglorious, cock-a-hoop, free, braggy, good-looking, with child(p), fine-looking, giving, large-minded, grownup, grown, large(p), enceinte, well-favoured, bounteous, self-aggrandizing, broad, swelled, handsome, fully grown, braggart(a), bighearted, expectant, freehand, tolerant, heavy(a), great(p), large, bragging(a), bad, freehanded, heavy(p), well-favored, big(a), better-looking, self-aggrandising, boastful, full-grown, openhanded, adult, gravid, big(p), crowing, loose

   Antonyms:
   conservativist, conservative, ungenerous, unprogressive, standpat(a), hidebound, ultraconservative, narrow-minded, nonprogressive, buttoned-up, fusty, narrow, exact, traditionalist, center, stingy, blimpish, right

7. free, loose, liberaladjective

   not literal

   "a loose interpretation of what she had been told"; "a free translation of the poem"

   Synonyms:
   spare, bountiful, sluttish, wanton, devoid, big, at large(p), idle, costless, large-minded, bounteous, easy, promiscuous, tolerant, detached, informal, complimentary, unaffixed, handsome, open, gratis(p), bighearted, slack, innocent, on the loose(p), destitute, freehanded, gratuitous, barren, broad, free, openhanded, giving, light, escaped, lax, loose

   Antonyms:
   conservativist, conservative, unprogressive, right, hidebound, fusty, exact, narrow-minded, standpat(a), center, narrow, ultraconservative, traditionalist, nonprogressive, buttoned-up, ungenerous, stingy, blimpish

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. liberaladjective

   Synonyms:
   generous, bountiful, free, beneficent, munificent, princely, charitable, open-hearted, free-hearted, unselfish, disinterested

2. liberaladjective

   Synonyms:
   enlarged, catholic, tolerant, unbigoted, high-minded, magnanimous, honorable, chivalrous

3. liberaladjective

   Synonyms:
   large, full, unstinted, abundant, ample, plentiful

4. liberalnoun

   Synonyms:
   liberalist, advocate of liberal principles

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. liberaladjective

   Synonyms:
   generous, open-handed, bounteous, munificent, unstinted, princely, profuse, lavish, ample, abundant, catholic, magnanimous, tolerant

   Antonyms:
   illiberal, ungenerous, stingy, limited, narrow, bigoced

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "liberal":

   liberals, eldr, liberality, liberalism, free, al-ahrar, liberalist, free-market, lenient, liberal-minded

How to pronounce liberal?

How to say liberal in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use liberal in a sentence?

1. Ted Cruz:

   I thank God some well-meaning liberal didn't come put his arm around my dad as a teenage immigrant.

2. Yale University Professor Carlos Eire:

   I have become marginalized here at Yale because of my political views, about 97 percent of the Yale faculty is liberal, and thinks Castro has done great things and that you should overlook his human rights abuses.

3. Noam Chomsky:

   Predatory capitalism created a complex industrial system and an advanced technology; it permitted a considerable extension of democratic practice and fostered certain liberal values, but within limits that are now being pressed and must be overcome. It is not a fit system for the mid-twentieth century.

4. Aaron Stein:

   The parties are reaching out to a new constituency that identifies with a liberal value structure.

5. Jeff Sessions:

   We've got cases moving in the very, very liberal Ninth Circuit, who, they've been hostile to the order, we won a case in Virginia recently that was a nicely-written order that just demolished, I thought, all the arguments that some of the other people have been making. We are confident that the President will prevail on appeal and particularly in the Supreme Court, if not the Ninth Circuit. So this is a huge matter. I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power.