Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Narrow-minded; bigoted.
- adjective Archaic Ungenerous, mean, or stingy.
- adjective Lacking education in the liberal arts.
- adjective Ill-bred; vulgar.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Not liberal; ignoble.
- Not catholic; of narrow or prejudiced opinions or judgment.
- Not manifesting or not promoting high culture; contracted; vulgar; coarse.
- Not elegant: as, illiberal Latin.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Not liberal; not free or generous; close; niggardly; mean; sordid.
- adjective Indicating a lack of breeding, culture, and the like; ignoble; rude; narrow-minded; disingenuous.
- adjective rare Not well authorized or elegant.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective restrictive to individual choice and freedom;
authoritarian . - adjective
narrow-minded ;bigoted - adjective
ungenerous ,stingy
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective narrow-minded about cherished opinions
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The public, who 'always incline to the humane fide, and efpoufe the caufe of the injured, as foon as the treatment I met with was known, took umbrage at what they termed illiberal proceeding towards a young adtrefs, and I believe in the end, the oppo - sition G. A.
An apology for the life of George Anne Bellamy, late of Covent-Garden theatre 1785
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But I did mention the starkness (to my eyes) of certain illiberal tendencies on the left.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Could Students Be Suspended for “Beat the Jew” Game 2010
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I know how fear of losing decent, moderate voters to the Liberal Democrats has acted to restrain illiberal instincts among some Conservative politicians.
Do the LibDem Difficulties Herald the Return of Two Party Politics? 2006
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There is another amusement too, which I cannot help calling illiberal, that is, playing upon any musical instrument.
The Young Gentleman and Lady's Monitor, and English Teacher's Assistant John Hamilton Moore 1772
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Shortly thereafter i was expelled from the party on the gounds thattraditional liberal principles are now redefined as "illiberal" - or alternately that the party can no longer honestly be called Liberal.
That Broon meme Stephen Tall 2007
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The American ‘on-size-fits-all’ appraoch of teling other countries to be like America of you’re illiberal is insulting.
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But the Philosopher says (Ethic. iv, 1) that "tyrants who destroy cities and despoil sacred places are not to be called illiberal," i.e. covetous.
Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province Aquinas Thomas
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They call her illiberal for trying to teach patience
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They call her illiberal for trying to teach patience
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They call her illiberal for trying to teach patience
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