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liberal

/ˈlɪb.(ə.)ɹəl/adjective, noun

liberal is spelled L-I-B-E-R-A-L: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 46 times per million words in written English, the 2,204th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, liberal means “Generous; permitting liberty; willing to give unsparingly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in liberal?

Letters7: L-I-B-E-R-A-L
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing46 times per million words; the 2,204th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is liberal?

Liberal appears 46 times per million words in written English, the 2,204th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce liberal?

  • US /ˈlɪb.(ə.)ɹəl/
  • /ˈləb.(ə.)ɹəl/

Liberal has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-liberal.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with liberal?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as liberal (/ɪbɹəl/).

Spelled with the same letters in another order: braille.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of liberal

  • more liberal comparative
  • most liberal superlative
  • liberals plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does liberal mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Generous; permitting liberty; willing to give unsparingly.

    He was liberal with his compliments.

  2. 2

    Ample, abundant; generous in quantity.

    Add a liberal sprinkling of salt.

  3. 3

    Widely open to new ideas, willing to depart from established opinions or conventions; permissive.

    Her parents had liberal ideas about child-rearing.

  4. 4

    obsoleteUnrestrained, licentious.

  5. 5

    Pertaining to a type of education the purpose of which is to cultivate and develop wise, capable and well-rounded people who are thus free of mental constraint and hindrance.

  6. 6

    Pertaining to those arts and sciences the study of which is considered to provide general knowledge, as opposed to vocational/occupational, technical or mechanical training; usually found in the phrase "liberal arts".

    He had a full education studying the liberal arts.

  7. 7

    Open to political or social changes and reforms associated with either classical liberalism or "modern liberalism"/progressivism.

    Endorsing the liberal anti-interventionist credo that the marketplace should act as the "site of verification," the advocates of white lead opposed government intervention for the sake of open economic competition, which they claimed reveal

noun

  1. 1

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

  2. 2

    USSomeone with progressive or left-wing views, especially on social and environmental issues.

  3. 3

    A supporter of any of several liberal parties.

  4. 4

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

  5. 5

    A conservative, especially a liberal conservative.

noun

as Liberal
  1. 1

    A political party and philosophy

  2. 2

    A member or supporter of a Liberal Party

  3. 3

    A member or supporter of the Liberal Party of Canada, or its predecessors, or provincial equivalents, or their predecessors

  4. 4

    BritishA Liberal Democrat.

  5. 5

    BritishdatedA Whig.

  6. 6

    A member or supporter of the Liberal Party of Australia.

adjective

as Liberal
  1. 1

    Of or relating to the Liberal party, its membership, or its platform, policy, or viewpoint.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Liberal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchlibéral (pertaining to the arts the study of which is…), large (generous, permitting liberty, willing to give…), généreux (ample, abundant, generous in quantity)
Germanfreiheitlich (pertaining to the arts the study of which is…), liberal (open to political or social reforms), Liberaler (one with liberal views, supporting individual…)
Portugueseliberal (open to political or social reforms)
Spanishliberal (open to political or social reforms), libertario, libertaria (Britain: one who favors individual voting…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does liberal come from?

The adjective is from Old French liberal, from Latin līberālis (“befitting a freeman”), from līber (“free”); it is attested since the 14th century. The noun is first attested in the 1800s.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after liberal