laissez-faire
noun
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The French phrase laissez faire literally means “allow to do,” with the idea being “let people do as they choose.” The origins of laissez-faire are associated with the Physiocrats, a group of 18th-century French economists who believed that government policy should not interfere with the operation of natural economic laws. (The actual coiner of the phrase may have been French economist Vincent de Gournay, or it may have been François Quesnay, who is considered the group’s founder and leader.) The original phrase was “laissez faire, laissez passer,” with the second part meaning “let (things) pass.” Laissez-faire, which first showed up in an English context in the first half of the 19th century, can still mean “a doctrine opposing governmental interference in economic affairs,” but it is also used in broader contexts in which a “hands-off” or “anything-goes” policy or attitude is adopted. It is frequently used as an adjective meaning “favoring a ‘hands-off’ policy,” as in “laissez-faire economics.”
Examples of laissez-faire in a Sentence
Charlie Campbell, Time, 15 Oct. 2025
But China’s movement away from liberalism and laissez-faire economics is only half the story.
—Benn Steil, Foreign Affairs, 3 Oct. 2025
With this much optionality, the machine will work for the coffee obsessive who weighs her beans every time and the more laissez-faire coffee drinker.
—Noah Kaufman, Bon Appetit Magazine, 23 Sep. 2025
Ultimately, that may mean that approval of the TikTok sale will be delayed again, perhaps forcing Trump to extend the deadline again as TikTok users wonder how critical the national security risk could really be if Trump remains so laissez-faire about not enforcing the law.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for laissez-faire
Cite this Entry
“Laissez-faire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/laissez-faire. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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