liberal
1 definition found
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
liberal
adj 1: showing or characterized by broad-mindedness; "a broad
political stance"; "generous and broad sympathies"; "a
liberal newspaper"; "tolerant of his opponent's opinions"
[syn: {broad}, {large-minded}, {liberal}, {tolerant}]
2: having political or social views favoring reform and progress
3: tolerant of change; not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy,
or tradition [ant: {conservative}]
4: given or giving freely; "was a big tipper"; "the bounteous
goodness of God"; "bountiful compliments"; "a freehanded
host"; "a handsome allowance"; "Saturday's child is loving
and giving"; "a liberal backer of the arts"; "a munificent
gift"; "her fond and openhanded grandfather" [syn: {big},
{bighearted}, {bounteous}, {bountiful}, {freehanded},
{handsome}, {giving}, {liberal}, {openhanded}]
5: not literal; "a loose interpretation of what she had been
told"; "a free translation of the poem" [syn: {free},
{loose}, {liberal}]
n 1: a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and
reform and the protection of civil liberties [syn:
{liberal}, {liberalist}, {progressive}] [ant:
{conservative}, {conservativist}]
2: a person who favors an economic theory of laissez-faire and
self-regulating markets
I honestly just never know what someone is meaning when they throw around some terms. If a liberal is in favor laissez-faire market economies, then they aren’t leftist. But I usually see liberal thrown around as if it’s supposed to be a pejorative for a left leaning ideology. It’s one of those terms that I don’t even use anymore, because it doesn’t seem like we have a common definition.
When someone throws liberal as an insult it’s just them letting you know they have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. Same thing with woke. To them those are ‘gotcha!’ slurs. They don’t care what they actually mean.
Removed by mod
Hey now. Those are words, and a lot of them!
I honestly just never know what someone is meaning when they throw around some terms. If a liberal is in favor laissez-faire market economies, then they aren’t leftist. But I usually see liberal thrown around as if it’s supposed to be a pejorative for a left leaning ideology. It’s one of those terms that I don’t even use anymore, because it doesn’t seem like we have a common definition.
When someone throws liberal as an insult it’s just them letting you know they have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. Same thing with woke. To them those are ‘gotcha!’ slurs. They don’t care what they actually mean.
100%. The problem for me is even when it’s used not as an insult, I’m not quite sure what the person is trying to say.