free agent
Americannoun
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a person who is self-determining and is not responsible for their actions to any authority.
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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.
noun
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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.”
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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
Etymology
Origin of free agent
First recorded in 1840–50
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.
Then, once Ohtani became a free agent, he reportedly would have considered returning to Anaheim, but Moreno wouldn’t match the Dodgers offer.
From Los Angeles Times • May 31, 2026
Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum featured in every Premier League match among 51 appearances during his final season for Liverpool before becoming a free agent in the summer of 2021.
From BBC • May 29, 2026
He eschewed the opportunity to become a free agent by signing a $426.5 million extension in 2019 that committed him to Anaheim through 2030.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
He was a free agent at the time the essay was published, and so it remained unclear whether coming out would end his NBA career.
From BBC • May 13, 2026
I know where the others are, and although, under any other circumstances, I’d be better off as a free agent, I’m thinking our strange little fellowship might be worth maintaining.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Definitions 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.
