DEFINITIONS
The
2019 WORD
OF THE YEAR is...

take liberties

1

Behave improperly or disrespectfully; also, make unwanted sexual advances. For example, He doesn't allow staff members to take liberties, such as calling clients by their first names, or She decided that if Jack tried to take liberties with her she would go straight home. This idiom uses liberties in the sense of “an overstepping of propriety,” and thus differs markedly from take the liberty of. [c. 1700]

2

Make a statement or take an action not warranted by the facts or circumstances, as in Their book takes liberties with the historical record.

Content related to take liberties

Bring vs. TakeDo you bring food to a party, or do you take food to a party? The terms bring and take are often confused, and for good reason. Both words describe the movement of something from one location to another. Bring describes the movement of something toward a specified location. According to this convention, you can bring food to a party, but not take food to …
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Words nearby take liberties

take it out on, take it upon oneself, take its toll, take kindly to, take leave of, take liberties, take lying down, take no for an answer, not, take note, take notes, take off
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.