First recorded in 1945–50
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Lindsey understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable. He devoted his life to defending America, strengthening our alliance and standing up for the free world," Netanyahu said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026
A little boy can walk out of a house on Fourth Street in the middle of small-town Kansas, and he can end up leading armies that will save the free world from tyranny.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
"The soldiers who once called each other Redcoats and Yankees became the Tommies and the GIs who together saved the free world," he said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
We’re just putting him in charge of the free world.
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2025
We too belonged to that wide free world.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
“That means ensuring the Free World continues to lead when it comes to AI innovation combined with sensible guardrails for AI use.”
From Washington Times ● Nov. 21, 2023
He focuses on reducing polarization through initiatives like the community-building movement Starts With Us and The Lubetzky Family Foundation’s Futures of the Free World program, which supports building democracy around the world.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 28, 2023
In 2015, Trump announced his run for the presidency set to the tune of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World."
From Salon ● Jan. 10, 2023
“The Free World” is an old-fashioned phrase that once connoted the United States, its allies, and their spheres of influence, and The Free World is in some ways an old-fashioned book.
From Slate ● Apr. 23, 2021
If the United States canceled the tests, it would lose technological ground to the Soviets; if it staged them, the nation would “lose the confidence of the Free World as the champion of peace.”
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
