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• independent
  independent

  adjective

  not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself.
• Independent
  Independent

  noun

  (in England) a member of the Congregational Church

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Which independent film used fake websites and missing-person reports to promote its story?

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independent

American  

[in-di-pen-duhnt] / ˌɪn dɪˈpɛn dənt /

adjective

1. not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself.

   an independent thinker.

2. not subject to another's authority or jurisdiction; autonomous; free.

   an independent businessman.

3. not influenced by the thought or action of others.

   independent research.

4. not dependent; not depending or contingent upon something else for existence, operation, etc.

5. not relying on another or others for aid or support.

6. rejecting others' aid or support; refusing to be under obligation to others.

7. possessing a competency.

   to be financially independent.

8. sufficient to support a person without their having to work.

   an independent income.

9. executed or originating outside a given unit, agency, business, etc.; external.

   an independent inquiry.

10. working for oneself or for a small, privately owned business.

11. expressive of a spirit of independence; self-confident; unconstrained.

    a free and independent citizen.

12. free from party commitments in voting.

    the independent voter.

13. Mathematics. (of a quantity or function) not depending upon another for its value.

14. Grammar. capable of standing syntactically as a complete sentence.

    an independent clause.

15. Logic.

    1. (of a set of propositions) having no one proposition deducible from the others.

    2. (of a proposition) belonging to such a set.

16. Statistics. statistically independent.

17. (initial capital letter) adhering or relating to Independency.

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noun

• independents
  plural

1. an independent person or thing.

2. a small, privately owned business.

   The conglomerates are buying up the independents.

3. 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.

4. (initial capital letter) an adherent of Independency.

5. British. a Congregationalist.

idioms

1. independent of, irrespective of; regardless of.

   Independent of monetary considerations, it was a promising position.

independent ¹ British  

/ ˌɪndɪˈpɛndənt /

adjective

1. free from control in action, judgment, etc; autonomous

2. not dependent on anything else for function, validity, etc; separate

   two independent units make up this sofa

3. not reliant on the support, esp financial support, of others

4. capable of acting for oneself or on one's own

   a very independent little girl

5. providing a large unearned sum towards one's support (esp in the phrases independent income, independent means )

6. living on an unearned income

7. maths (of a system of equations) not linearly dependent See also independent variable

8. statistics

   1. (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

   2. (of two or more events) such that the probability of all occurring equals the product of their individual probabilities Compare statistical dependence

9. logic

   1. not validly derivable from one another, so that if the propositions are the axioms of some theory none can be dispensed with

   2. not logically related, so that in no case can the truth value of one be inferred from those of the others

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noun

1. an independent person or thing

2. a person who is not affiliated to or who acts independently of a political party

Independent ² British  

/ ˌɪndɪˈpɛndənt /

noun

1. (in England) a member of the Congregational Church

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adjective

1. of or relating to Independency

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonindependent
  adjective
• preindependent
  adjective
• pseudoindependent
  adjective
• quasi-independent
  adjective
• superindependent
  adjective
• independently
  adverb
• nonindependently
  adverb
• preindependently
  adverb
• pseudoindependently
  adverb
• quasi-independently
  adverb
• superindependently
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• independents
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of independent

First recorded in 1605–15; in- ³ + dependent

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Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

independent Independent independents

Local officials say he was not only a Basque separatist but also a member of ETA, the militant group that sought to carve out an independent Basque state from Spain and France.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

The company supplies strawberries for Driscoll’s, which markets berries grown by independent farmers under contract.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

In the interest of full disclosure, I come at this issue very much as an independent and a centrist.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026

The business realities of independent digital journalism have changed profoundly over the years.

From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026

He and Mama were very independent on the farm, raising just about everything our family needed to eat: beans, greens, peas, potatoes, corn, wheat, apples, grapes.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

This includes the latest employment report from the National Federation of Independent Business, due out later today.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

Independent power generators have been seen as eventual winners in an environment where AI-related power demand — and electricity prices — are on the rise.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026

Independent productions would be eligible for $100 million in funding, up from $26 million.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

The Independent runs a large photo showing a wave driven by Storm Boelo smashing into the Merseyside shore above its main story focusing on the push from the government to "reset EU ties".

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

“And are you referring to Reverend Goodacre of the Independent Church of Prairie Lea?” said Mother.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

It set Pappas up perfectly for his line that “everyone is welcome on this team: progressives, moderates, independents, Republicans.”

From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2026

As of Thursday, 13 councillors are sitting as non-aligned independents, while 18 Ashfield Independents remain, meaning the party is one councillor away from losing its majority.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

A Presbyterian seminarian, Talarico has sought to attract independents and Republicans disillusioned with Trump, arguing that Texans have more in common than the country's increasingly bitter political divisions suggest.

From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026

Younger people have long been more likely to identify as independents, but Gen Z is doing so at a significantly higher rate than any previous generation at the same age.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

“Every hotel concierge knows who to call if some guest wants tickets. All I’m sayin’ is, it’s not as easy as you think for a couple of independents.

From "Small Steps" by Louis Sachar

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