Liberal

What do we mean by liberal?

Favoring reform, open to new ideas, and tolerant of the ideas and behavior of others; not bound by traditional thinking; broad-minded. synonym: broad-minded. adjective

Of, relating to, or characteristic of liberalism. adjective

Of, designating, or characteristic of a political party founded on or associated with principles of social and political liberalism, especially in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. adjective

Tending to give freely; generous. adjective

Generous in amount; ample. adjective

Not strict or literal; loose or approximate. adjective

Of, relating to, or based on the traditional arts and sciences of a college or university curriculum. adjective

Permissible or appropriate for a person of free birth; befitting a lady or gentleman. adjective

Morally unrestrained; licentious. adjective

A person with liberal ideas or opinions. noun

A member of a Liberal political party. noun

One who holds liberal views in theology. noun

Befitting a freeman, or a state, condition, or situation free from narrow limitations; free in scope; of wide or ample range or extent; not narrowly limited or restricted; expanded; comprehensive: as, a liberal education; the liberal arts or professions; liberal thought or feeling; liberal institutions; a liberal policy in government; a liberal interpretation or estimate.

Free in views or opinions; expansive in purpose or aim; not narrow, bigoted, or intolerant; specifically, favorable to personal, political, or religious liberty; opposed to narrow conservatism or undue restriction: as, a liberal thinker; a liberal Christian; a liberal statesman; the Liberal party (in the politics of some countries).

Free in bestowal or concession; generously inclined; ready to impart or bestow; bountiful; munificent; magnanimous; followed by with or of before the thing bestowed, and to before the recipient: as, a liberal donor; to be liberal with one's money; to be liberal to an opponent in debate.

Freely bestowed or yielded; marked by bounty or abundance; generous; ample: as, a liberal donation; a liberal harvest or flow of water; to make a liberal concession or admission.

Free in character or quality; candid; open; hence, with an added implication, unduly free; unrestrained; unchecked; licentious.

One with liberal views, supporting individual liberty (see Wikipedia's article on Liberalism).

Someone left-wing; one with a left-wing ideology.

A supporter of any of several liberal parties.

One who favors individual voting rights, human and civil rights, and laissez-faire markets (also called "classical liberal"; compare libertarian).

If used in a non-political sense, "liberal" simply means "a lot." Urban Dictionary

Technically means those people who embrace all elements of society. However it is more commonly used as a term for any left-winger. Urban Dictionary

A liberal, in the American sense, is one who falls to the left in the political spectrum; In other parts of the world, however, liberalism is the belief in laissez-faire capitalism and free-market systems - hence the recently coined term, neoliberalism. Although I do not like to generalize, for the purposes of a (somewhat) concise dictionary definition, here is the very basic liberal (American sense) ideology: Politics: The federal government exists to protect and serve the people, and therefore, should be given sufficient power to fulfill its role successfully. Ways in which this can be accomplished include giving the federal government more power than local governments and having the government provide programs designed to protect the interests of the people (these include welfare, Medicare, and social security). Overall, these programs have helped extensively in aiding the poor and unfortunate, as well as the elderly and middle class. To make sure that the interests of the people are served, it was liberals (or so they were considered in their time) that devised the idea of a direct democracy, a republic, and modern democracy. This way, it is ensured that the federal government represents the interests of the people, and the extensive power that it is given is not used to further unpopular goals. Liberals do not concentrate on military power (though that is not to say they ignore it), but rather focus on funding towards education, improving wages, protecting the environment, etc. Many propose the dismantling of heavy-cost programs such as the Star Wars program (no, not the film series), in order to use the money to fund more practical needs. Social Ideology: As one travels further left on the political spectrum, it is noticed that tolerance, acceptance, and general compassion for all people steadily increases (in theory at least). Liberals are typically concerned with the rights of the oppressed and unfortunate – this, of course, does not mean that they ignore the rights of others (liberals represent the best interests of the middle-class in America). This has led many liberals to lobby for the rights of homosexuals, women, minorities, single-mothers, etc. Many fundamentalists see this is immoral; however, it is, in reality, the most mature, and progressive way in which to deal with social differences. Liberals are identified with fighting for equal rights, such as those who wanted to abolish slavery and those who fought hard for a woman's reproductive right (see Abortion). Liberals have also often fought for ecological integrity, protecting the environment, diversity of species, as well as indigenous populations’ rights. Almost all social betterment programs are funded by liberal institutions, and government funded social programs on education improvement, childrens’ rights, womens’ rights, etc. are all supported by liberals. Basically, social liberalism is the mature, understanding way in which to embrace individual differences, not according to ancient dogma or religious prejudice, but according to the ideals of humanity that have been cultivated by our experiences throughout history, summed up in that famous American maxim: “with liberty and justice for all.” Economics: Using the term ‘liberal’ when speaking of economics is very confusing, as liberal in America is completely opposite to the rest of the world. Therefore, here, as I have been doing, I will concentrate on the American definition of liberal concerning economics. Liberals believe that the rights of the people, of the majority, are to be valued much more sincerely than those of corporations, and therefore have frequently proposed the weakening of corporate power through heavier taxation (of corporations), environmental regulations, and the formation of unions. Liberals often propose the heavier taxation of WEALTHY individuals, while alleviating taxes on the middle class, and especially the poor. Liberals (American sense) do not support laissez-faire economics because, to put it simply, multinational corporations take advantage of developing countries and encourage exploitation and child labor (multinational corporations are spawned from laissez-faire policies). Instead, many propose the nationalization of several industries, which would make sure that wealth and power is not concentrated in a few hands, but is in the hands of the people (represented by elected officials in government). I am not going to go into the extreme intricacies of the economic implications of privatization of resources, etc., but will say that privatization and globalization have greatly damaged the economies of Latin America, namely Argentina and Mexico (see NAFTA). This summation of the leftist ideology may not be 100% correct in all situations, as there are many variations on several issues and I may have depicted the current definition of “liberal” as too far to the left than it is generally accepted. On that note, many leftists are critical of the political situation in America, claiming that the left is now in the center, as the general populace has been conditioned by institutions such as Fox News to consider “everything left of Hitler” (as one clever person put it) as radical liberalism. I, myself, have observed that, in America, there are two basic types of liberals: those who concern themselves only with liberal policies on the domestic front, and either ignore international affairs or remain “patriotic” and dedicated to the “American way” (Al Franken, Bill Clinton, etc.) And then there are those, despite the criticism they face from many fellow “liberals” (classified under the former definition), who are highly critical of US foreign policy, addressing such issues as Iran-Contra, the Sandanistas, Pinochet, Vietnam, NATO’s intervention in Kosovo, our trade embargo on Cuba, etc, etc. (such as Noam Chomsky, William Blumm, etc.) Unfortunately, it seems that adolescent rage has run rampant on this particular word, and most definitions are either incoherent jumbles of insults and generalizations or deliberate spewing of misinformation (see the definition that describes the situation in Iraq, without addressing our suppression of popular revolts in Iraq, our pre-war sanctions on Iraq that have caused the death of some 5 million children, and our support for Saddam during the Iran-Iraq war, and even our post-war sale of biological elements usable in weapons to Saddam’s regime). Urban Dictionary

Someone who is usually subjected to narrowminded hostility in his or her own time, but is vindicated by posterity. Many of the political figures we revere today were liberals in their own time. Urban Dictionary

A so-called "bad" thing to be before, now and probably in the future. It's been somehow turned into an attack word. What people don't realize is that no kind of progress is made without even an ounce of liberalism in your blood. Civil rights movement? Liberal from MLK Jr. Free speech/checks and balances/etc.? Liberal idea from Enlightenment thinkers. Any kind of new technology? Liberal in the sense that you want to change the existing conditions. Face it. Any kind of change, whether good or bad, is promoted by liberalism. Urban Dictionary

People who hate conservatives. Urban Dictionary

A person that appears to prefer peaceful diplomatics and minimization of violent acts, against other countries, people, etc. They SEEM to be louder in polls and how they feel about politics. All of this is based on where I have lived, therefore I may be wrong, but I don't think so. Also, if a conservative disagrees strongly with a liberal, they refer to them as a communist. Urban Dictionary

A word meaning open minded. Ironic then how the majority of Americans hate liberals and liberalism and yet claim to be a tolerant and free society. Surely some mistake... Urban Dictionary

An individual who attempts to see the bigger picture. One who questions authority, and who believes in actual freedom, not dictated freedom, as is handed down by republican politicians. Urban Dictionary

Someone who believes in affordable health care and education and not letting the poor starve and die. Urban Dictionary

Words that are spelled similarly to liberal:
liberal, literal, libera, libral, liberar.

Words that are triggered by (strongly associated with) the word liberal:
democrats, democrat, liberalism, candidate, party, caucus, conservative, gladstone, mps, councillor, whip, coalition, greens, seats, commons, incumbent, riding, politician, election, labour, seat, progressive, arts, democracy, democratic, electorate, parliamentary, parties, candidates, labor, faction, leader, parliament, opposition, cabinet, contested, colleges, supporter, constituency, defending, legislative, electoral, radical, reform, swing, lloyd, provincial, sat, nationalist, quebec, stood, vote, politicians, alliance, educated, leadership, minister, politics, nomination, resigned, views, sitting, elected, policies, socialist, prime, minority, resignation, ontario, majority, political, ward, member, defeated, theology.

Words that rhyme with liberal:
neoliberal, dibrell.

Adjectives that are often used to describe liberal:
white, moderate, political, classical, modern, true, conservative, american, old, radical, century, young, prominent, economic, ardent, advanced, strong, staunch, southern, independent, neo, religious, genuine, western, english, typical, contemporary, former, traditional, extreme, democratic, fashioned, german, progressive, bourgeois, outspoken, paretian, classic, british, russian, least, northern, active, wing, european, convinced, victorian, average, consistent, theological, enlightened, minded, outstanding, known, class, lifelong, sincere, called, left, militant, gladstonian, pragmatic, less, doctrinaire, corporate, orthodox, secular, famous, racial, honest, thorough, intellectual, republican, anti, dangerous, conventional, influential.

Nouns that are often described by the adjective liberal:
education, arts, party, democracy, policy, government, ideas, principles, views, tradition, use, theory, state, policies, democracies, college, society, democrats, view, colleges, parties, spirit, values, movement, thought, professions, leaders, attitude, institutions, interpretation, politics, ideology, theology, reforms, terms, regime, leader, approach, constitution, candidate, order, culture, members, press, supply, philosophy, capitalism, allowance, opinion, republicans, support, intellectuals, wing, societies, opposition, politicians, opinions, governments, attitudes, feminism, candidates, reform, individualism, majority, program, tendencies, thinkers, construction, ideals, mind, democrat, laws, reformers, conception, cause, economy, agenda, bourgeoisie, administration, feminists, measures, sentiments, member, nationalism, causes, movements, legislation.

Consonant match to liberal:
labial, libral.

Words that sound like liberal:
liberal, libral, liberals, liberally, libera, illiberal, lable, lebel, labre, label, libra, laurel, libel, libre, libro, labile, labial, labra, loral, lobel, labal, leibel, lorel, liebl, lural, lauryl, lubra, labelle, laboring, labouring, lebron, lebrun, lepal, lepra, labree, la belle, liberty, literal, liberate, libya, lira, lire, liber, libert, littoral, libia, libber, labrum, loughborough, lowbrow, lowball, lupercal, libras, lupul, libran, labrie, loo roll, low ball, low brow, la brea, liberalize, lobule, littrell, libri, libbers, labras, lappel, labor pool, labarum, low-brow, lobdell, lapel, labret, lepel, leering, wirral, wibble, cabral, eberle, libbing, umbral, limbering, aberle, oberle, enbrel, cebra, umbrel, chibbal, liable, lubber, libretto, febrile, lera, leora, jabril, librate, leira, alible, lebert, febril.