free agent

American  

noun

1. a person who is self-determining and is not responsible for their actions to any authority.

2. a professional athlete who is not under contract and is free to auction off their services and sign a contract with the team that offers the most money.

---

free agent British  

noun

1. a person whose actions are not constrained by others

---

free agent Idioms  

1. A person not under compulsion or constraint, not responsible to any authority for his or her actions. For example, After he quit his job, he decided to pursue the same line of work as a free agent . Originally used to describe a person subject to the philosophic concept of free will (as opposed to determinism), this expression was first recorded in 1662. Later it was extended to mean “someone not under obligation to an authority.”

2. A professional athlete who is free to sign a contract with any team. For example, After he was released from the Yankees, he was a free agent and could shop around for the team that offered the most money . [Second half of 1900s]

---

Other Word Forms

• free agency noun
• free agentry noun

Etymology

Origin of free agent

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

The bankruptcy stung some franchises, like the San Diego Padres, leaving them without expected broadcasting money they had used to sign big free agents.

From The Wall Street Journal

I was kind of a free agent at that moment.

From Los Angeles Times

“It wasn’t easy,” Díaz said of his free agent process, which ended with him leaving the New York Mets after a decorated seven-year stint.

From Los Angeles Times

Had the former undrafted free agent really elevated his game to a new level or was he just on a six-week heater?

From Los Angeles Times

The same dynamic could be in play with other top free agents.

From Los Angeles Times