Libertarian definition

lĭbər-târē-ən
libertarians
See word origin
Frequency:
One who advocates maximizing individual rights and minimizing the role of the state.
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One who believes in free will.
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A person who believes in the doctrine of the freedom of the will.
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A person who believes in full individual freedom of thought, expression, and action.
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A U.S. political party stressing libertarian principles, as protection of the rights of the individual and minimization of the role of government.
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A member of this party.
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One who advocates liberty either generally or on a specific issue, e.g. "civil libertarian" (in favour of civil liberties).
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(chiefly US) A believer in a political doctrine that emphasizes individual liberty and a lack of governmental regulation and oversight both in matters of the economy ('free market') and in personal behavior where no one's rights are being violated or threatened. Also 'classical liberal', akin to 'anarcho-capitalist'.
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(chiefly Europe) An anarchist, typically with socialist implications.
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(philosophy) A believer in thinking beings' freedom to choose their own destiny, i.e. a believer in free will as opposed to those who believe the future is predetermined.
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(US, prefixed to "Republican") A member of the Republican Party (especially a legislat) who emphasizes economic and Constitutional, rather than religious and personal, aspects of the party's platform.
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(US, prefixed to "Democrat") A member of the Democratic Party (especially a legislat) who emphasizes personal and international, rather than economic, aspects of the party's platform.
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Having the beliefs of libertarians; having a relative tendency towards liberty.
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(dated) Relating to liberty, or to the doctrine of free will, as opposed to the doctrine of necessity.
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(politics) A member of a political party or movement that uses the term "Libertarian" in its name (e.g., the Libertarian Party of the United States); one who is likely to support policies that are libertarian.
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(politics) Of, or pertaining, to the Libetarian Party in the United States.
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Of or upholding libertarian principles.
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Of, belonging to, or characteristic of the Libertarian Party.
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
libertarian
Plural:
libertarians

Origin of libertarian

  • From liberty

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • 1789 liberty +"Ž -arian

    From Wiktionary

Libertarian Sentence Examples

  • Thus libertarian free will has to disappear from their belief.

  • But the real strength of the libertarian position is to be found in the fact that consciousness is capable of distinguishing ends at all.

  • On this ground James is a libertarian.

  • Hedonistic psychology denied the libertarian hypothesis, but it denied also the absoluteness and intuitive character of moral obligation, and attached no validity to the ordinary interpretation of terms like "ought" and duty.

  • That doctrine, if it is to possess cogency as a proof of the impossibility of the libertarian position, must assume that the amount of energy sufficient to account for physical and psychical changes is constant and invariable in quantity, an assumption which no scientific investigator is competent to prove.

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Words near libertarian in the Dictionary