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 index covering 126 software categories found a brand moving from winning 34% of answers to 90% depending on whether the buyer described themselves as a freelancer or an enterprise. — Jason Goldberg, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026

In addition, the survey found that contractors and marginal workers are notably less satisfied with their jobs compared with regular workers, whereas freelancers, due to their ability to choose where and when to work, are more satisfied. — Paul Osterman, The Conversation, 11 Aug. 2026

By the fall of 2017, workers and freelancers were picketing outside Bellum’s main Burbank office, with the protests earning coverage from Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter. — Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 11 Aug. 2026

Working with agencies, freelancers, and technology providers while helping ensure marketing efforts remain aligned with business priorities. — Jason Phillips, Ascend Agency, 10 Aug. 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