libertarian

noun

lib·er·tar·i·an | \ ˌli-bər-ˈter-ē-ən

, -ˈte-rē-\

Definition of libertarian

1 : an advocate of the doctrine of free will

2a : a person who upholds the principles of individual liberty especially of thought and action

b capitalized : a member of a political party advocating libertarian principles

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This time, however, the pressure is coming not from civil libertarians filing lawsuits, or the news media writing editorials, but from Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the most prominent district attorney in the state. — New York Times, "Manhattan District Attorney Demands Access to Police Records," 8 July 2018 Many civil libertarians thought so when hate-crime laws were being debated, though not all were able to maintain the courage of their convictions. — Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, "Are Hate-Crime Laws Helping?," 22 Feb. 2019 Opposition libertarians bristled at Butina's outreach to the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, according to former collaborators. — Matthew Bodner And Angela Charlton, Fox News, "Misfire: Maria Butina's strange route from Russia to US jail," 10 Sep. 2018 Flake was always more of a libertarian himself, but that was still the Republican Party’s winning brand upon Flake’s arrival in Washington. — Dylan Scott, Vox, "Brett Kavanaugh is Jeff Flake’s most important test," 3 Oct. 2018 The deregulation and repeal of Glass-Steagall that would detonate during the second term of Bush’s son was unimagined outside the fantasies of bankers and libertarians. — Jon Talton, The Seattle Times, "‘It’s the economy, stupid,’ and the bad luck of George H.W. Bush," 4 Dec. 2018 First of all, who was the candidate that ran for the libertarians? — Fox News, "Gutfeld: The media need to focus on reality instead of fear," 21 July 2018 Jacobs, a staunch libertarian, won the Republican primary in May by fewer than 20 votes. — Dan Gartland, SI.com, "Kane’s Mayoral Opponent Calls Him Out for Continuing to Wrestle as Election Nears," 6 July 2018 Many of the early adopters of Bitcoin were libertarians and anarchists who were drawn to the technology’s stateless, decentralized nature. — Kevin Roose, New York Times, "Think Cryptocurrency Is Confusing? Try Paying Taxes on It," 21 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'libertarian.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.