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noun

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective liberal contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of liberal are bountiful, generous, and munificent. While all these words mean "giving or given freely and unstintingly," liberal suggests openhandedness in the giver and largeness in the thing or amount given.

a teacher liberal with her praise

When could bountiful be used to replace liberal?

The words bountiful and liberal are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, bountiful suggests lavish, unremitting giving or providing.

children spoiled by bountiful presents

When is generous a more appropriate choice than liberal?

The synonyms generous and liberal are sometimes interchangeable, but generous stresses warmhearted readiness to give more than size or importance of the gift.

a generous offer of help

In what contexts can munificent take the place of liberal?

While the synonyms munificent and liberal are close in meaning, munificent suggests a scale of giving appropriate to lords or princes.

a munificent foundation grant

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of liberal
Adjective
In three of the five full opinions handed down on June 27, the court’s six conservatives were on one side and the three liberals were on the other. Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 28 June 2025 The notion that Trump is the wrong answer to the right question has become something of a truism for liberals. Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 23 June 2025
Noun
Some liberal commentators privately feared left-wing scapegoating. Theo Burman, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 July 2025 Influential congressman Jim Clyburn speaks at his rally, but will California’s liberal image wreck his chances? Bay Area News Group, Mercury News, 13 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for liberal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for liberal
Adjective
  • Commissioner of Indian Affairs John Collier took a more progressive approach to Native issues.
    Debra Utacia Krol, AZCentral.com, 13 July 2025
  • Last season, 33 per cent of his total carries in the Premier League were progressive, defined as carries greater than five metres and move the ball at least five metres towards the opposition goal — only Jeremy Doku (38 per cent) had a higher share among players who played at least 900 minutes.
    David Ornstein, New York Times, 11 July 2025
Adjective
  • This is an excellent, strange little book that appeared in 2011 and had a profound impact on me, and apparently on Florence Welch who adorns the cover with a generous quote.
    Hattie Williams July 14, Literary Hub, 14 July 2025
  • The new subsidies are more generous for low- and middle-income earners and are available to people with higher incomes who previously were ineligible.
    Sarah Volpenhein, jsonline.com, 14 July 2025
Adjective
  • There are a number of prominent changes to charitable tax deduction rules, but the bigger story is how OBBBA overall will change charitable planning for some taxpayers.
    Martin Shenkman, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025
  • Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio.
    Jim Cramer, CNBC, 13 July 2025
Adjective
  • Climate control systems can monitor and regulate all the inputs in modern greenhouses and hoop houses.
    Julie Weed, Forbes.com, 26 July 2025
  • The 44-year-old Texan has worn badass on his sleeve from the get-go, cutting the coolest figure in country music for the better part of a decade in his brash voice, hard-living lyrics, and modern long-haired outlaw.
    Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 25 July 2025
Adjective
  • Florida health officials announced on July 11 that four people had died and at least seven others were made sick due to Vibrio vulnificus, a rare but deadly flesh-eating bacteria that seems to be plentiful in Florida's warm climate.
    Joyce Orlando, Nashville Tennessean, 21 July 2025
  • Giddy gratification and gory glimpses of the ocean predators are plentiful this year, as is some frightening and fascinating footage of the summer season’s seminal scallywag.
    Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 20 July 2025
Adjective
  • Good starters are made up of the unique mix of benevolent dictator (someone has got to keep things moving), a maestro (there are a million different things at play; the starter gets them all to hopefully harmonize) and friend.
    Moira McCarthy, Boston Herald, 10 July 2025
  • The act was sealed in a pronouncement by Princess Isabel, who became a President Lincoln-like figure in Brazil, known to many as the benevolent white liberator of the enslaved.
    Time, Time, 17 June 2025
Noun
  • The veteran lefty continued his brilliant season on Tuesday, tossing seven shutout frames and thoroughly overwhelming the Royals offense.
    Sahadev Sharma, New York Times, 23 July 2025
  • While only two of the four runs scored on his five-inning watch were earned, the lefty put himself in unenviable positions and condensed his start with five free passes.
    Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 22 July 2025
Adjective
  • There is set to be an update on a working group tasked with addressing pressing issues over cricket’s three formats, including a radical plan to split Test nations into two divisions.
    Tristan Lavalette, Forbes.com, 16 July 2025
  • But his defense of liberalism, which rejects considerations of what anyone deserves, is in some ways more radical than many flashier schools of thought.
    The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 15 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Liberal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/liberal. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.

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