libertarian

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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

2 a :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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libertarian

adjective

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libertarianism

play \ˌli-bər-ˈter-ē-ə-ˌni-zəm, -ˈte-rē-\ noun

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Recent Examples of libertarian from the Web

WASHINGTON — Defying U.S. safety protections for human trials, an American university and a group of wealthy libertarians, including a prominent Donald Trump supporter, are backing the offshore testing of an experimental herpes vaccine.

— marisa taylor, Kaiser Health News, "Offshore Human Testing Of Herpes Vaccine Stokes Debate Over U.S. Safety Rules," 28 Aug. 2017
Mainstream libertarians were worried about the spread of ideas like that.

— david weigel, Washington Post, "Libertarians wrestle with the alt-right," 24 Aug. 2017
To lawyers, civil libertarians and anyone who doesn’t hate men, this is an outrage.

— christine m. flowers, Philly.com, "Title IX doesn't do enough to protect men in college sexual assault cases | Christine Flowers," 11 Aug. 2017
But proper government regulation is necessary for equality Kapeich? -- Silas[?] (@Silas_0_) July 6, 2017 But staunch free-market believers and libertarians say the government has absolutely no business regulating industry.

— the tylt, AL.com, "Are government regulations actually a good thing?," 27 July 2017
While some on the left have hailed the book, libertarians and conservatives have attacked it online.

— jonathan h. adler, Washington Post, "‘Why have so many . . . embraced such a transparently flawed book?’," 15 July 2017
Joe Buchman, Libertarian Joe Buchman, 59, is a lifelong libertarian, according to his campaign website.

— kaitlyn schallhorn, Fox News, "Chaffetz replacement: Who are the Utah congressional candidates?," 28 June 2017
A recent study produced by the Voter Study Group found that libertarians basically don’t exist in the American body politic.

— alex shephard, New Republic, "The Right’s War Against Liberal Democracy," 27 June 2017
While the individual mandate is widely opposed by conservatives and libertarians, it was originally included as a way to push healthier people into the insurance system -- to help cover the cost of insuring sicker customers.

— brooke singman, Fox News, "Senate Republicans roll out tweaks to health care bill," 26 June 2017

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.

First Known Use of libertarian

1789

LIBERTARIAN Defined for English Language Learners

libertarian

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noun

Definition of libertarian for English Language Learners

: a person who believes that people should be allowed to do and say what they want without any interference from the government

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libertarian

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