liberate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
liberates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
liberated,
past participle, past
-
liberating
present participle
-
to set free, as from imprisonment or bondage.
- Synonyms:
- loose, disenthrall, unfetter, deliver
-
to free (a nation or area) from control by a foreign or oppressive government.
-
to free (a group or individual) from social or economic constraints or discrimination, especially arising from traditional role expectations or bias.
-
to disengage; set free from combination, as a gas.
-
Slang. to steal or take over illegally.
The soldiers liberated a consignment of cigarettes.
verb
-
to give liberty to; make free
-
to release (something, esp a gas) from chemical combination during a chemical reaction
-
to release from occupation or subjugation by a foreign power
-
to free from social prejudices or injustices
-
euphemistic to steal
Synonym Usage
See release.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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liberatornoun
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preliberateverb (used with object)
-
reliberateverb (used with object)
-
liberativeadjective
-
liberatoryadjective
-
unliberatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
liberatesimple
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liberatessimple
-
have liberatedperfect
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has liberatedperfect
-
am liberatingprogressive
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are liberatingprogressive
-
is liberatingprogressive
-
have been liberatingperfect progressive
-
has been liberatingperfect progressive
Past
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liberatedsimple
-
had liberatedperfect
-
was liberatingprogressive
-
were liberatingprogressive
-
had been liberatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of liberate
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin līberātus (past participle of līberāre “to free”), equivalent to līberā- verb stem + -tus past participle suffix. See liberal, -ate 1
Explanation
To liberate something means to release it from confinement. As the saying goes, "If you love something, set it free," — liberate it. Liberate is a powerful verb he verb that has been an important part of the history of the United States. In the Revolutionary War we fought to liberate ourselves from Great Britain, and the Civil War was fought in part to liberate the Southern slaves. As recently as the 1920's, women sought to be liberated from second-class citizen status. Even today, there are rebel groups in foreign countries striving to liberate their people who are denied freedom by their governments.
Vocabulary lists containing liberate
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It’s Morello half-speaking, half-singing against a gentle piano melody that emotionally underscores the song’s message of quiet defiance: “Maybe you can save me/Maybe you can’t/Maybe you can liberate me/Nah, I’ll take care of that.”
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026
Like many of their peers, they longed for a secular and democratic government that would liberate them from the regime’s draconian social rules.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
"So the family sat down... and decided we have to do our traditional rituals to liberate his soul."
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
In theory, we could able to liberate ourselves of dull, menial tasks, such as replying to emails, going to meetings or managing calendars and diaries, by delegating these to capable bots.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
I presented to Bono that we must return up the hill and liberate our friend; to which he replied that I would be no such fool.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
"And then such an extreme event takes place, and in a way, liberates everything -- all the emotions, all the ideas and the passions, all the terrible things."
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
The shift liberates her holiday shopping, says Nussen, lead lighting designer at Consumer’s Lighting, a company she runs with her husband.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 31, 2025
And even him taking that step sends such a positive message and liberates others to be able to do the same.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2024
More poignantly, it critiques how race, gender and genre have limited our ability to see her talent and, by doing so, liberates her from ever again having to prove her singular impact on American culture.
From New York Times ● Dec. 2, 2023
His heroic conduct raises the hero out of the rut of his existence, liberates him from the trammels of his individuality and enlarges this to represent a community, its longings, its resolutions, its determination.
From Morals and the Evolution of Man by Max Simon Nordau
“He’s liberated from his own shyness when he’s trying to solve the puzzle,” Mitchell said recently over Zoom from London.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
But Milton liberated Satan by sending him to Hell.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
The operation would continue, he said, “until the country is liberated from the control of terrorist militias.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
Perhaps being so far behind, and expected to capitulate, liberated Pakistan.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
In some ways, the collective skepticism was liberating: Whiteman and Baum, who died in 1998, could let their imaginations run wild.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
In their 2021 blockbuster interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan described the freedom to make her own choices as "liberating".
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
"I'd love to see artificial intelligence winning wars, liberating territories."
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
Deciding how many days you want to teach yoga or bartend, and how much consulting work you want to take on, can feel liberating — as though you’re the master of your own time.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
In his reports to the superintendent, Shin found himself telling a wonderfully liberating lie.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
