Synonym Chooser

How is the word liberty different from other nouns like it?

The words freedom and license are common synonyms of liberty. While all three words mean "the power or condition of acting without compulsion," liberty suggests release from former restraint or compulsion.

the released prisoner had difficulty adjusting to his new liberty

When could freedom be used to replace liberty?

In some situations, the words freedom and liberty are roughly equivalent. However, freedom has a broad range of application from total absence of restraint to merely a sense of not being unduly hampered or frustrated.

freedom of the press

When is it sensible to use license instead of liberty?

Although the words license and liberty have much in common, license implies freedom specially granted or conceded and may connote an abuse of freedom.

freedom without responsibility may degenerate into license

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 liberty The liberty to set your own course. Bloomberg, Mercury News, 14 Oct. 2025 Spencer said that vibe came out of a band — which has been filled with Tweedy family pals including members of Finom — at liberty to muck about with the arrangements. Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, 12 Oct. 2025 Many reckoned with its ideals; pervasive talk of liberty held particular portent for women’s lives. Jane Kamensky, The Atlantic, 10 Oct. 2025 Both organizations profess an unwavering commitment to liberty, but stand firmly on either side of a growing debate about book banning in America. Anna Kaufman, USA Today, 9 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for liberty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for liberty
Noun
  • Vernengo said the reclassification of drug dealers as terrorists has led many in the region to assume that there is a push for a possible invasion of Venezuela, whose neighbors have no choice but to have a relationship with the United States.
    Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Oct. 2025
  • With fewer families able to afford lessons and operating costs on the rise, Jackson has had to make difficult choices just to keep his doors open.
    Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Paz favored gradual reform, including tax incentives for small businesses and regional fiscal autonomy, while Quiroga proposed sweeping cuts and an IMF bailout.
    Reuters 3 min ago, CNN Money, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Idaho lawmakers and advocates have stressed that their goals are bodily autonomy and informed choice.
    Audrey Dutton, ProPublica, 20 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Shop early to secure your Christmas tree for less, and keep scrolling to see more on-sale options at Amazon starting at $33.
    Maggie Horton, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025
  • Unlike the plush option that just comes with down clusters, the mid-plush and firm densities are down cluster and feather pillows.
    Nashia Baker, Architectural Digest, 22 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • But Ukraine says Russia is waging an imperial war of conquest to eradicate Ukrainian sovereignty and identity, and illegally bring it under Kremlin control.
    Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025
  • More than 15,000 Haitians lost their lives fighting against the United States’ seizure of Haitian sovereignty, including Charlemagne Péralte, the subject of Yveline Alexis’s engrossing and tragic account of the Occupation.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Whether or not to cut back coneflowers is ultimately based on preference, but there are some advantages to delaying the process.
    Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 24 Oct. 2025
  • To combat this, a 4-2-3-1 can be morphed into multiple defensive shapes depending on the head coach’s preference.
    Mark Carey, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Steve Coppell knew how to manage people, play the right tactics and give us the freedom to express ourselves.
    Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Other artists address psychological and ecological rupture, from Shirin Neshat’s haunting meditations on freedom to Sharbendu De’s visions of climate futures.
    PhotoVogue, Vogue, 25 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The disappointment of losing to Watertown yet again, this time a 2-1 decision in early September that could’ve gone the other way.
    Tom Mulherin, Boston Herald, 20 Oct. 2025
  • In one of the more truly unimaginable comebacks in recent franchise history, the Broncos clawed all the way back from a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit to down the Giants 30-26 at Empower Field on Sunday.
    Luca Evans, Denver Post, 20 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The Athletic maintains full editorial independence.
    Madeline Coleman, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
  • Traditional narratives obscure the role slavery might have played in Texas’ drive for independence and portray the Alamo’s defenders as freedom fighters.
    Preston Fore, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Liberty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/liberty. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.

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