academic freedom

noun

: freedom to teach or to learn without interference (as by government officials)

Examples of academic freedom in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The outcome will test how far both state and federal leaders are willing to go in using financial leverage to enforce competing visions of academic freedom, campus governance, and student life. Martha McHardy, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025 But tenure is not just about academic freedom. Time, 1 Oct. 2025 The Supreme Court steps in By the mid-1950s, questions about the constitutionality of these laws – and the extent of professors’ academic freedom and First Amendment right to freedom of speech – reached the Supreme Court. Laura Gail Miller, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2025 This could be read, and by many people was read, as a chilling assault on the principle of academic freedom, which courts have interpreted as a component of the First Amendment protection of free speech. Louis Menand, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for academic freedom

Word History

First Known Use

1863, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of academic freedom was in 1863

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Cite this Entry

“Academic freedom.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/academic%20freedom. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

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