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independent Definition

in·de·pend·ent (in′dē pen′dənt, -di-)

adjective

  1. free from the influence, control, or determination of another or others; specif.,
    1. free from the rule of another; controlling or governing oneself; self-governing
    2. free from influence, persuasion, or bias; objective an independent observer
    3. relying only on oneself or one's own abilities, judgment, etc.; self-confident; self-reliant independent in his thinking
    4. not adhering to any political party or organization an independent voter
    5. not connected or related to another, to each other, or to a group; separate an independent grocer
    1. not depending on another or others, esp. for financial support
    2. large enough to enable one to live without working: said of an income, a fortune, etc.
    3. having an independent income; not needing to work for a living
  3. of or having to do with Independents

Etymology: ML independens: see in- & dependent

noun

  1. a person who is independent in thinking, action, etc.
  2. ☆ a voter who is not an adherent of or committed to any political party
  3. a member of a religious and political movement of the 17th cent. in England that advocated self-sufficiency of each local Christian church: the movement led to the organization of Congregationalists and Baptists

independent Related Forms

in′·de·pend′·ently adverb

independent Idioms

independent of

apart from; regardless of

independent Synonyms

independent

modif.

  1. Free

    self-governing, autonomous, sovereign; see free 1, 2.

  2. Self-reliant

    self-sufficient, self-supporting, individualistic, inner-directed; see confident 2, unconventional.

  3. Neutral

    objective, detached, nonpartisan; see fair 1, nonpartisan.

independent Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • observer: Systems neither exist independent of an observer nor imply a purpose.
  • government: The self-regulatory system is funded by the industry, in order to be cost free to the public and independent of government.
  • hardware: SGML supports an infinite variety of document structures and is independent of any specific hardware or software.

Preposition: since

healthmatters: Non-profitmaking and independent since 1988 healthmatters is a member of INK, the Independent News Collective, trade association of the UK alternative press.

Modifying Another Word

  • fiercely: For long these schools although sharing the same site were fiercely independent.
  • financially: Our key aims are to help our customers become financially independent and help reduce child poverty.
  • totally: The babies start eating within twenty four hours of birth and are totally independent of their mother at three weeks of age.
  • completely: You think we must try to become completely independent?
  • truly: And how many advisers are truly independent and original in their advice - rather than merely the beneficiaries of government patronage?
  • entirely: But entirely independent of that, somebody else could have been in my place, for somebody had to occupy it.

Modifies a noun

  • adviser: I was also press officer for the Essex Environment Trust and a leading independent waste adviser.
  • living: Our primary aim is to promote independent living to the maximum for those people who choose to live here.
  • advice: A lack of independent advice will lead to a loss of confidence in direct payments by service users.
  • consultant: Neither of the independent consultants took part in this process.
  • body: All postgraduate taught courses should be assessed by an independent body on a regular basis.
  • retailer: Other findings were; Almost 25 % of independent retailers or their staff have been victims of violent crime at work.

Used with adjective complement

  • remain: Headteacher may choose to be a governor or opt to remain independent.
  • become: You think we must try to become completely independent?
  • stay: We might join one of these or stay independent, that's really dependent on numbers.
  • exist: Systems neither exist independent of an observer nor imply a purpose.