illiberal

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ɪˈlɪbərəl/ UK /ɪˈlɪbərəl/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
intolerant, narrow-minded, or restrictive of freedom

The new law was criticized as illiberal and repressive.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · intolerant, narrow-minded,... intolerant bigoted narrow-minded prejudicedrepressiveauthoritarian

Opposites

liberal tolerantopen-mindedprogressive

Word family

Derived forms illiberallyilliberality

Related forms liberal liberty

Etymology

From Latin illiberalis ('ignoble, unworthy of a free person'), from in- ('not') + liberalis ('befitting a free person'), from liber ('free').

liberalis Latin liber la-new

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# illiberal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ɪˈlɪbərəl
**IPA (UK):** ɪˈlɪbərəl

## Meanings
1. intolerant, narrow-minded, or restrictive of freedom

## Examples
- The new law was criticized as illiberal and repressive.

## Synonyms
- intolerant
- bigoted
- narrow-minded
- prejudiced
- repressive
- authoritarian

## Antonyms
- liberal
- tolerant
- open-minded
- progressive

## Derived Forms
- illiberally
- illiberality

## Related Forms
- liberal
- liberty

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: liberalis
- Root: liber

## Etymology
From Latin illiberalis ('ignoble, unworthy of a free person'), from in- ('not') + liberalis ('befitting a free person'), from liber ('free').

## AI Etymology
illiberal comes from Latin illiberalis ('ignoble, unworthy of a free person'), from in- ('not') + liberalis ('befitting a free person'), from liber ('free'). Morphologically, the prefixed shape matters: the initial element belongs to the recorded formation and helps explain the modern form's surface analysis. In present English, the adjective sense is "intolerant, narrow-minded, or restrictive of freedom", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as liberal and liberty, and in derivatives such as illiberally and illiberality. Its semantic neighborhood includes intolerant, bigoted, narrow-minded, and prejudiced, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin liberalis and Latin liber.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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illiberal

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