liberal – definition of liberal in English | Oxford Dictionaries

adjective

1Willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas.

liberal views towards divorce

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unbiased, unprejudiced, prejudice-free, accepting, non-partisan, neutral, non-aligned, non-judgemental, non-discriminatory, anti-discrimination, objective, disinterested, dispassionate, detached

liberal citizenship laws

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tolerant, unprejudiced, unbigoted, broad-minded, open-minded, enlightened, forbearing

a liberal democratic state

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progressive, advanced, modern, forward-looking, forward-thinking, progressivist, go-ahead, enlightened, reformist, radical

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2[attributive] (of education) concerned with broadening a person's general knowledge and experience, rather than with technical or professional training.

the provision of liberal adult education

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3(especially of an interpretation of a law) broadly construed or understood; not strictly literal.

they could have given the 1968 Act a more liberal interpretation

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flexible, broad, loose, rough, non-restrictive, free, general, non-literal, non-specific, not literal, not strict, not close

4Given, used, or occurring in generous amounts.

liberal amounts of wine had been consumed

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abundant, copious, ample, plentiful, generous, lavish, luxuriant, profuse, considerable, prolific, rich

Sam was too liberal with the wine

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generous, magnanimous, open-handed, unsparing, unstinting, ungrudging, lavish, free, munificent, bountiful, beneficent, benevolent, big-hearted, kind-hearted, kind, philanthropic, charitable, altruistic, unselfish

1A person of liberal views.

a concern among liberals about the relation of the citizen to the state

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Middle English: via Old French from Latin liberalis, from liber free (man). The original sense was suitable for a free man, hence suitable for a gentleman (one not tied to a trade), surviving in liberal arts. Another early sense generous(compare with liberal) gave rise to an obsolete meaning free from restraint, leading to liberal (late 18th century).

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liberal - definition of liberal in English | Oxford Dictionaries