libertine
[lib-er-teen, -tin]
- a person who is morally or sexually unrestrained, especially a dissolute man; a profligate; rake.
- a freethinker in religious matters.
- a person freed from slavery in ancient Rome.
Show More
- free of moral, especially sexual, restraint; dissolute; licentious.
- freethinking in religious matters.
- Archaic. unrestrained; uncontrolled.
Show More
Origin of libertine
Synonyms
See more synonyms for libertine on Thesaurus.com1. roué, debauchee, lecher, sensualist. 4. amoral, sensual, lascivious, lewd.
Antonyms
1. prude.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for libertine
Contemporary Examples
In this way, bisexual is code for libertine, which is something else altogether.
And they were both these libertine figures during their lives.
She sought to arouse what attention she could by running for governor as the most libertine of libertarians.
Although married to the prominent French heiress and journalist Anne Sinclair, Strauss-Kahn was a libertine of the old school.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn Settles With Maid: How the Case Changed FranceChristopher Dickey
December 11, 2012
But Strauss-Kahn, 63, was leading the private life of a “libertine,” as he has since admitted.
Reports: Dominique Strauss-Kahn Settles With Maid Who Claimed Sexual AssaultChristopher Dickey
November 30, 2012
Historical Examples
Libertine as he is, can have no thoughts of any other woman but Clarissa.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
To speak the truth you are simply playing the game of a libertine.
A Comedy of Marriage and Other TalesGuy De Maupassant
I loved her; but when I loved her I ceased to be a libertine.
Vivian GreyEarl of Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli
"It was that libertine brother-in-law of mine, the Duke of Gandia," he said.
The Historical Nights' EntertainmentRafael Sabatini
Even the libertine, that pauper in the realm of Love, wants the perfect life.
Sex=The Unknown QuantityAli Nomad
libertine
- a morally dissolute person
Show More
- morally dissolute
Show More
Word Origin
C14 (in the sense: freedman, dissolute person): from Latin lībertīnus freedman, from lībertus freed, from līber free
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for libertine
n.
late 14c., "a freedman, an emancipated slave," from Latin libertinus "member of a class of freedmen," from libertus "one's freedmen," from liber "free" (see liberal). Sense of "freethinker" is first recorded 1560s, from French libertin (1540s) originally the name given to certain Protestant sects in France and the Low Countries. Meaning "dissolute or licentious person" first recorded 1590s; the darkening of meaning being perhaps due to misunderstanding of Latin libertinus in Acts vi:9. As an adjective by 1570s.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper