freedom

free·dom

noun \ˈfrē-dəm\

Definition of FREEDOM

1

: the quality or state of being free: as

a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action

b : liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another : independence

c : the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous <freedom from care>

d : ease, facility <spoke the language with freedom>

e : the quality of being frank, open, or outspoken <answered with freedom>

f : improper familiarity

g : boldness of conception or execution

h : unrestricted use <gave him the freedom of their home>

2

a : a political right

b : franchise, privilege

Examples of FREEDOM

1. He thinks children these days have too much freedom.
2. She has the freedom to do as she likes.
3. a political prisoner struggling to win his freedom
4. Or Bugs would do the impossible by jumping out of the frame and landing on the drawing board of the cartoonist who was at work creating him. This freedom to transcend the laws of basic physics, to hop around in time and space, and to skip from one dimension to another has long been a crucial aspect of imaginative poetry. —Billy Collins, Wall Street Journal, 28-29 June 2008
5. It's the beginning of summer. … For many adults who are really closet kids, this means that their blood hums with a hint of freedom … —Anna Quindlen, Newsweek, 18 June 2001
6. I can see that my choices were never truly mine alone—and that that is how it should be, that to assert otherwise is to chase after a sorry sort of freedom. —Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father, (1995) 2004

First Known Use of FREEDOM

before 12th century

Related to FREEDOM

Synonyms

autonomy, independence, independency, liberty, self-determination, self-governance, self-government, sovereignty (also sovranty)

Antonyms

dependence (also dependance), heteronomy, subjection, unfreedom

Related Words

emancipation, enfranchisement, liberation, manumission, release

Near Antonyms

captivity, enchainment, enslavement, immurement, imprisonment, incarceration, internment, subjugation

Synonym Discussion of FREEDOM

freedom, liberty, license mean the power or condition of acting without compulsion. freedom has a broad range of application from total absence of restraint to merely a sense of not being unduly hampered or frustrated <freedom of the press>. liberty suggests release from former restraint or compulsion <the released prisoner had difficulty adjusting to his new liberty>. license implies freedom specially granted or conceded and may connote an abuse of freedom <freedom without responsibility may degenerate into license>.

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

Rhymes with FREEDOM

Edom, sedum