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independent
[ in-di-pen-duhnt ]
adjective
- not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself:
an independent thinker.
- not subject to another's authority or jurisdiction; autonomous; free:
an independent businessman.
- not influenced by the thought or action of others:
independent research.
- not dependent; not depending or contingent upon something else for existence, operation, etc.
- not relying on another or others for aid or support.
- rejecting others' aid or support; refusing to be under obligation to others.
- possessing a competency:
to be financially independent.
- sufficient to support a person without their having to work:
an independent income.
- executed or originating outside a given unit, agency, business, etc.; external:
an independent inquiry.
- working for oneself or for a small, privately owned business.
- expressive of a spirit of independence; self-confident; unconstrained:
a free and independent citizen.
- free from party commitments in voting:
the independent voter.
- Mathematics. (of a quantity or function) not depending upon another for its value.
- Grammar. capable of standing syntactically as a complete sentence: Compare dependent ( def 4 ), main 1( def 4 ).
an independent clause.
- Logic.
- (of a set of propositions) having no one proposition deducible from the others.
- (of a proposition) belonging to such a set.
- Statistics. statistically independent.
- (initial capital letter) Ecclesiastical. adhering or relating to Independency.
noun
- an independent person or thing.
- a small, privately owned business:
The conglomerates are buying up the independents.
- Politics. a person who votes for candidates, measures, etc., in accordance with their own judgment and without regard to the endorsement of, or the positions taken by, any party.
- (initial capital letter) Ecclesiastical. an adherent of Independency.
- British. a Congregationalist.
Independent
1/ ˌɪndɪˈpɛndənt /
noun
- (in England) a member of the Congregational Church
adjective
- of or relating to Independency
independent
2/ ˌɪndɪˈpɛndənt /
adjective
- free from control in action, judgment, etc; autonomous
- not dependent on anything else for function, validity, etc; separate
two independent units make up this sofa
- not reliant on the support, esp financial support, of others
- capable of acting for oneself or on one's own
a very independent little girl
- providing a large unearned sum towards one's support (esp in the phrases independent income, independent means )
- living on an unearned income
- maths (of a system of equations) not linearly dependent See also independent variable
- statistics
- (of two or more variables) distributed so that the value taken by one variable will have no effect on that taken by another or others
- (of two or more events) such that the probability of all occurring equals the product of their individual probabilities Compare statistical dependence
- logic of a set of propositions
- not validly derivable from one another, so that if the propositions are the axioms of some theory none can be dispensed with
- not logically related, so that in no case can the truth value of one be inferred from those of the others
noun
- an independent person or thing
- a person who is not affiliated to or who acts independently of a political party
Derived Forms
- ˌindeˈpendently, adverb
Other Words From
- inde·pendent·ly adverb
- nonin·de·pendent adjective
- nonin·de·pendent·ly adverb
- prein·de·pendent adjective
- prein·de·pendent·ly adverb
- pseudo·inde·pendent adjective
- pseudo·inde·pendent·ly adverb
- quasi-inde·pendent adjective
- quasi-inde·pendent·ly adverb
- super·inde·pendent adjective
- super·inde·pendent·ly adverb
Word History and Origins
Origin of independent1
Idioms and Phrases
- independent of, irrespective of; regardless of:
Independent of monetary considerations, it was a promising position.
Example Sentences
You can take a home-office deduction only if you’re self-employed, an independent contractor or a gig worker.
On top of that, independent chefs have used the format to launch pop-ups from within their own restaurants.
Using Google Lens, she scanned one of the spoons, and within seconds, she received dozens of results from places such as eBay, big-box stores and independent resellers.
I’m looking for an independent, easy-going, family-oriented, trustworthy, fun-loving man who is looking for someone to complement his life.
Among registered voters, the Berkeley IGS survey found only 11 percent of registered Democrats and 32 percent of independents would vote to recall Newsom.
The Independent, quoted the duo as saying “we have some offers but we cannot say anything at the moment.”
The issue polls well among Democratic, Republican, and independent voters.
For the last nine years, they have battled secular Baluch nationalists who would like to see an independent Baluchistan.
I am reminded of the story of Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent, VT) walking along the shores of Lake Champlain.
This is a job for independent committees, like Bowles-Simpson, not a partisan slugfest.
So far Murat had always held subordinate commands; his great ambition was to become the commander-in-chief of an independent army.
In a strict sense, of course, no child's drawing is absolutely spontaneous and independent of external stimulus and guidance.
Many persons impede their execution by not keeping the thumb independent enough of the rest of the hand.
While the majority pulled in one way there was an active minority that wished the Nana to set up an independent kingdom.
Divine Providence is about to place independence within our reach, in a manner most acceptable to a free and independent people.
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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.
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