illiberal
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.45 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Restricting or failing to sufficiently promote individual choice and freedom.
adj
adj
Not adhering to either liberalism or neoliberalism.
noun
One opposed to liberal principles.
Example Sentences
- "Behind Europe's commitment to liberal democracy lurks an illiberal tradition. Every time freedom has failed in Europe, it is to that tradition - of violent repression, totalitarianism, xenophobia, and intolerance - that Europeans have reverted."
- "Unless the administration compels all workers to invest in life cycle accounts — an illiberal but nonetheless sensible idea — this particular danger cannot be eliminated."
- "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."
- "...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..."
- "The few who are more fortunate are rendered illiberal by their unjust privileges, and oppressive through fear of the awakening indignation of the masses. From the highest to the lowest, almost all men are absorbed in the economic struggle: the struggle to acquire what is their due or to retain what is not their due."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: illibéral, illiberalis