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.
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) adhering or relating to Independency.
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) an adherent of Independency.
British. a Congregationalist.
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
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
an independent person or thing
a person who is not affiliated to or who acts independently of a political party
If your brother says you broke his guitar and you say you weren't anywhere near it, your parents may ask your sister for an independent opinion, as she has no reason to lie. An independent person is free from the control or influence of other people. The root word, depend, originally meant "to hang down." We use the word hang in a similar way. If the decision to build a new stadium hangs on funding, the decision won't be made till the money comes in. To be independent means that you don't depend on your parents to pay your bills. Or, for a three year old, it may mean going to the bathroom "all by yourself." It's all relative.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But even then, said Patrick Huey, principal adviser at Victory Independent Planning in Naples, Fla., private-market investments probably shouldn’t make up more than a sliver of your portfolio.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026
The National Federation of Independent Business said Tuesday that its small-business optimism index rose 0.1 points to 95.9, remaining below its long-term average of 98.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026
There is no Peterborough First Independent candidate up for election in the ward, though the party is fielding candidates elsewhere in the city.
From BBC • May 1, 2026
New Zealand's former prime minister Helen Clark, co-chair of The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, said the failure to reach agreement this week was "deeply regrettable".
From Barron's • May 1, 2026
That's when we discover who really rules Carver Independent School—one burly P.E. teacher and one elderly drama teacher.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
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.
