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

Conceptualized and developed by High Profile Lifestyle (HPL), Freelancers Unplugged is a 6-part concert series created to inspire, empower, and celebrate freelancers across the entertainment industry. —Malana Vantyle, USA Today, 17 May 2025

Workers use the platform for free, while businesses pay the freelancer’s wages through Timee, plus a 30% commission on every paycheck and a ¥200 transaction fee. —Cat Wang, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025

She’s also worked for The Bulletin as a staff writer and the opinion editor and for the Johnson County Post as a freelancer covering the city of Olathe. —Hannah Wise, Kansas City Star, 14 May 2025

Joining the Theater Development Fund (better known as TDF) gives you access to advance discount tickets, and many people are eligible, including retirees or anyone 30 and under or who works in the arts, or who is a freelancer. —The Editors, Curbed, 9 May 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