libertarian

noun

lib·​er·​tar·​i·​an ˌli-bər-ˈter-ē-ən 

-ˈte-rē-

plural libertarians

1

: an adherent or advocate of libertarianism

Libertarians take individual freedom as the paramount political value and understand coercion to be the antithesis of that freedom. While people can justifiably be forced to do certain things—most obviously, to refrain from infringing the liberty of others—they cannot be coerced to serve the good of other members of society, nor even their own personal good.

—Bas van der Vossen and Billy Christmas

… the one big thing the libertarians knew and could explain better than anyone else—that the invisible hand of the market is a more reliable organizer of the economic life of nations than the visible hand of the state …

—Richard Cornuelle

2

Libertarian plural Libertarians : a member or supporter of a political party supporting or promoting libertarianism

a registered Libertarian

libertarian adjective

or less commonly Libertarian

… the libertarian ideology and rhetoric associated with "school choice," opposition to gun control, and the right of business to be free from government regulation.

—Alan Wolfe

the Libertarian party

Examples of libertarian in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Ultimately, after a special session was called in December, he was thrown out of the Senate with 60 votes against him from across the political spectrum, including the Peronists, Radicals, PRO, and even the libertarians. —Agustino Fontevecchia, Forbes, 12 Jan. 2025

Once associated with Milton Friedman’s University of Chicago school of economics, it is properly forgotten outside the pages of right-wing libertarians — who are not traditional, humane conservatives — and reproduced in the opinion pages of the Tribune. —Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2025

Michael Calore: Won't anybody think of the libertarians? —Lauren Goode, WIRED, 21 Nov. 2024

Another reason is that in the 1960s, civil libertarians and others argued that people with mental illness were being neglected and abused in the state’s mental hospitals. —Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1789, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing libertarian

• anti-libertarian

Kids Definition

libertarian

noun

lib·​er·​tar·​i·​an ˌlib-ər-ˈter-ē-ən 

: a person who believes in liberty of thought and action

libertarian adjective

libertarianism

-ē-ə-ˌniz-əm 

noun