freelancer

Also free lanc·er,

[free-lan-ser]

noun

1. a person who works as a writer, designer, performer, or the like, selling work or services by the hour, day, job, etc., rather than working on a regular salary basis for one employer.

Word History and Origins

Origin of freelancer¹

First recorded in 1920–25; freelance ( def. ) + -er ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

They also want rules on the use of artificial intelligence and better conditions for freelancers, who the federation says are suffering low-paid "exploitation" as employers axe full-time contracts.

Read more on Barron's

Crew members like the 29-year-old are more like freelancers—young men recruited for a job.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That’s a broad swath of Californians — including many bartenders and hairdressers, small business owners and their employees, farmers and farm workers, freelancers, ride-share drivers, and those working multiple part-time gigs to make ends meet.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The reporting won him the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, making him the first freelancer ever to win in that category.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

After six months of filming and fronting street interview ads himself, Suggs was able to turn most days in the park over to a team of staff and freelancers.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• author 
• biographer 
• columnist 
• correspondent 
• critic 
• dramatist 
• editor 
• essayist 
• journalist 
• novelist 
• poet 
• reporter 
• screenwriter