free spirit

noun

plural free spirits

: a person who thinks and acts in an uninhibited way without worrying about normal social rules : nonconformist

Their daughter is a real free spirit.

Von der Becke thinks of himself now as a free spirit: a sort of drug-free, hard-working hippie.

—Tim Cahill

Here was a man of extraordinary sensitivity, political acumen, spiritual power, and sexual wildness; a free spirit if ever there was one.

—Alice Walker

free-spirited

ˈfrē-ˈspir-ə-təd 

adjective

Synonyms

• bohemian
• boho
• counterculturist
• deviant
• enfant terrible
• heretic
• iconoclast
• individualist
• lone ranger
• lone wolf
• loner
• maverick
• nonconformer
• nonconformist

Examples of free spirit in a Sentence

Their daughter is a real free spirit.

an artistically inclined free spirit who felt alienated and stifled while growing up in a small town

Recent Examples on the Web

Utsav was a free spirit who hadn’t worked a traditional job in three years. —Shobha Dasari, New York Times, 3 Jan. 2025

And a little bit of my free spirit is gone for sure. —Lexy Perez, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Dec. 2024

Not just anything will do for a free spirit like you, though. —Hedy Phillips, People.com, 5 Dec. 2024

Mezcal, on the other hand, is the free spirit of the family—it can be made from over 30 types of agave, with Espadín being the most common. —Emily Price, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1931, in the meaning defined above