neoliberal

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noun (1)

neo·​lib·​er·​al ˌnē-ō-ˈli-b(ə-)rəl 

plural neoliberals

: a liberal who supports or promotes free market competition and sustained economic growth through capitalism as a means for achieving progress

Neoliberals have a wide variety of views on political and social matters … but they are at one in seeing the free market as the fountainhead of human freedom.

—John Gray

broadly : a liberal who de-emphasizes traditional liberal doctrines in order to seek progress by more pragmatic methods

… he and other so-called neoliberals are often accused of being too willing to compromise sacred Democratic Party principles in the name of what works.

—Ken Auletta

neoliberal adjective

In terms of policy, the pursuit of a neoliberal economic development agenda (deregulation, marketization, privatization) has transformed … the Egyptian economy …

—Mona Atia

neoliberalism

ˌnē-ō-ˈli-b(ə-)rə-ˌli-zəm 

noun

… the Democratic version of neoliberalism forged in the 1970s that came to fruition in the Clinton era has had an enduring influence. … The mainstream Democratic Party … remained committed to growth and investment …, public-private partnership, especially with the tech industry, and nonprofits and foundations as the main mechanism for addressing problems of inequality.

—Lily Geismer

neoliberalism

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noun (2)

neo·​liberalism "+ 

1

: a movement or doctrine that attempts to modify the principles of classical liberalism in order to pursue progress by more pragmatic methods

2

: a modern movement in Protestant Christian theology that is critical of earlier 20th century liberalism while affirming many of its fundamental assumptions and that is held to have arisen as a reaction against the new supernaturalism and the conservative doctrines of neoorthodoxy

Examples of neoliberal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In contrast to the more orthodox and unified neoliberals of Big Tech, this grouping contains a multitude of competing radical ideologies and ideas—from libertarian network state utopias to techno-monarchist visions to openly eugenicist views. —Nick Srnicek, Wired News, 14 Jan. 2026

The latest letter covers Africa’s last neoliberals and the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. —Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 8 July 2025

This was precisely the premise that the most radical neoliberals sought to use sociobiology to question. —Erik Baker, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025

The governing alliance between the far-right, who wage culture wars, and neoliberals, who believe the only legitimate culture is the one that survives in the market, threatens to drain Swedish cultural life of its diversity. —Annika Pham, Variety, 23 Jan. 2025

Some of Trump’s second-term nominees, including for labor secretary and head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, are hardly small-government neoliberals. —David Leonhardt, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2025

Good free-market neoliberals had historically disdained this idea, believing government attempts to meddle in the economy would have bad results. —Andrew Prokop, Vox, 15 Oct. 2024

By the end of the 1970s, the field was dominated by debates between neorealists such as Kenneth Waltz and neoliberals such as Robert Keohane, both of whom constructed theories of global politics that left little room for the role of ideas. —Tanisha M. Fazal, Foreign Affairs, 18 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

neo- + liberal entry 2

Noun (2)

International Scientific Vocabulary ne- + liberalism

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1979, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for neoliberal

• illiberal
• liberal