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

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

His ploy was to play him centrally, as a roving freelancer, with someone on the left (Rodrygo or Gabriel Martinelli) to do conventional wing work. —Jack Lang, New York Times, 1 June 2026

Delta Business Traveler’s free program gives freelancers and small business owners access to discounts, travel perks and business offers that are actually useful. —Jasmin Suknanan, CNBC, 29 May 2026

GoShare also offers good rates for movers with trucks, but enlists freelancers without trucks to assist. —Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 May 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