Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun One who has rejected authority and dogma, especially in religious thinking, in favor of rational inquiry and speculation.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One who is not guided in the formation of his beliefs by obedience to authority, but submits the claims of authority to reason as the ultimate arbiter.
- noun Synonyms Unbeliever, Skeptic, etc. See
infidel .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One who speculates or forms opinions independently of the authority of others; esp., in the sphere or religion, one who forms opinions independently of the authority of revelation or of the church; an unbeliever; -- a term assumed by deists and skeptics in the eighteenth century.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A person who has formed their opinions using
reason and rational enquiry; somebody who has rejecteddogma , especially with regard toreligion .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a person who believes that God created the universe and then abandoned it
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Now my first reaction to "freethinker" is "well, you get what you pay for," and nothing in the essay caused me to alter that opinion.
October 18th, 2009 m_francis 2009
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Next election, the freethinker is tossed, either by the nomination committee or the electorate.
some scary thoughts 2005
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* An unidentified Major in Iraq -- a fundamentalist Christian pretending to be a "freethinker" -- for attending the first meeting of atheist service members under the umbrella of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, then verbally berating the other attendees, accusing them of plotting against Christians and disrespecting soldiers who have died protecting the Constitution.
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A freethinker is a person who forms an opinion about religion, politics and morals independently of tradition, authority or established belief.
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I know, -- "and the Cardinal hesitated a moment," I know I can speak quite plainly to you, for you are what is called a freethinker -- yet
The Master-Christian Marie Corelli 1889
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He is known as a freethinker, a supporter of women's rights, an advocate of equality, and a pioneer in everything from drama to technology.
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at one time a freethinker was a man who had been brought up in the conception of religion, law, and morality, who reached freethought only after conflict and difficulty.
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Reply: Oh? So it's okay for you to call me "lazy, inept, naive", but it is not okay for me to call you a liberal, for whatever substitution you may want to use (i.e. individual "freethinker")?
The Mailer That Put the Final Nail in the McCain Campaign Coffin 2008
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Four soldiers attended this meeting - all of them very junior enlisted soldiers with the exception of one Major an O-4, who claimed to be a "freethinker".
What Fundamentalist Christians and Radical Muslims Have In Common Christopher O'Brien 2007
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Four soldiers attended this meeting - all of them very junior enlisted soldiers with the exception of one Major an O-4, who claimed to be a "freethinker".
Archive 2007-08-01 Christopher O'Brien 2007
vendingmachine commented on the word freethinker
... a person who believes that God created the universe and then abandoned it.
Who knew?
July 23, 2022