ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Illiberal

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Part of speech adjective

Quick meaning: Illiberal is an adjective meaning Restricting or failing to sufficiently promote individual choice and freedom.

Meaning

Restricting or failing to sufficiently promote individual choice and freedom.

More Meanings

  1. Narrow-minded; bigoted.
  2. (economics, politics) Not adhering to either liberalism or neoliberalism.
  3. One opposed to liberal principles.
  4. (archaic) Ungenerous, stingy.

Example Sentences

Accordingly, that form of Popery, which prevailed in Scotland, was of the moſt bigotted and illiberal kind.
While they maintained a denominational character, they were in nowise illiberal, and set up no religious test for entrance.
Unless the administration compels all workers to invest in life cycle accounts — an illiberal but nonetheless sensible idea — this particular danger cannot be eliminated.
...the final offer made on the part of the King was that the Queen should have an allowance of 52,000 pounds a year— not, one would have thought, a very illiberal allowance for the daughter of a small German prince.

Word Forms

Synonyms for illiberal

Depending on context, synonyms include bossy, bigoted, stingy, mercantilist, protectionist, procontrol.

Antonyms for illiberal

Common opposites include liberal.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include narrow-minded, narrow, intolerant, bigoted, parochial, judgmental.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.