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

One One of the biggest mistakes new freelancers make is undercharging. —Kimberly Wilson, Essence, 1 Oct. 2025

Here’s the breakdown of four popular sites that enlist freelancers to train AI models. —Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Sep. 2025

Why choose fractional work? While freelancers are hired to execute specific projects or hourly tasks, fractional workers are more embedded into a business — often helping to lead the overall strategy at a company. —Ernestine Siu, CNBC, 22 Sep. 2025

While American businesses are calling their full-time staff back to the office, working with freelancers has become just as normal. —Jessica Wong, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1924, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for freelancer

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