freelancer

noun

free·​lanc·​er ˈfrē-ˌlan(t)-sər 

plural freelancers

1

: a person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any one employer : freelance sense 1

hired a freelancer to write the article

… there were hundreds of photographers on the scene, some on assignment, some freelancers, most of them amateurs.

—Garrison Keillor

But while Renzo is the ultimate company man, a lifetime employee who reports to the same office every morning, Riccardo is the prototypical freelancer, a peripatetic problem-solver with five-dozen clients.

—Bruce Schoenfeld

2

: a person who acts independently without being affiliated with or authorized by an organization : freelance sense 2b

[Anthony] Grafton contrasts public intellectuals outside and inside the universities, and he takes note of today's nostalgia for the freethinkers who lived and wrote independently of deans and classrooms. But it is good to be reminded that in that golden era of freelancers such as Wilson, H. L. Mencken, and Mary McCarthy, voices like theirs were also raised in universities.

—G. W. Bowersock

Examples of freelancer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 1991, illustrator and designer Michael Doret was a freelancer living in New York City, promoting his work in American Showcase and The Black Book — publications that were distributed to art departments, design studios, and advertising agencies. —Jeremy Rellosa, Curbed, 9 June 2026

Gina Grillo is a freelancer for Pioneer Press. —Gina Grillo, Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2026

Individual freelancers were owed tens of thousands of pounds at what was a perilous moment for the independent film sector. —Jake Kanter, Deadline, 3 June 2026

According to Fiverr Pro’s data, searches for freelancers who are proficient in AI automation have jumped by 94% over the last six months. —Matthew Kayser, USA Today, 2 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1924, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for freelancer

• enhancer
• merganser
• romancer
• ansar
• anser
• answer
• cancer
• dancer
• lancer
• anticancer
• necromancer