Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The state or quality of being libertine.
  • noun The behavior characteristic of a libertine; promiscuity.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The exercise of the privileges and rights of a libertine or freedman; exemption from servitude and its disabilities.
  • noun The state of being free or unrestrained in thought or action.
  • noun Irreligiousness; regardlessness of the dictates of morality.
  • noun The character or conduct of a libertine or rake; licentiousness; unrestrained indulgence of lust; debauchery; lewdness.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun rare The state of a libertine or freedman.
  • noun Licentious conduct; debauchery; lewdness.
  • noun Licentiousness of principle or opinion.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A lifestyle or pattern of behavior characterized by self-indulgence and lack of restraint, especially one involving sexual promiscuity and rejection of religious or other moral authority.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

libertine +‎ -ism

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Examples

  • Also, Mlle. Nanette affected an air of reserve and took at on herself to read me lessons on what she was pleased to call my libertinism ....

    The memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt 1827

  • Also, Mlle. Nanette affected an air of reserve and took at on herself to read me lessons on what she was pleased to call my libertinism ....

    Memoirs of Casanova — Volume 30: Old Age and Death Giacomo Casanova 1761

  • Also, Mlle. Nanette affected an air of reserve and took at on herself to read me lessons on what she was pleased to call my libertinism ....

    The Complete Memoirs of Jacques Casanova Giacomo Casanova 1761

  • And, secondly, about those things that more strictly refer to their own character and profession, and which distinguish them from all other professors of Christianity; avoiding two extremes upon which many split, viz. persecution and libertinism, that is, a coercive power to whip people into the temple; that such as will not conform, though against faith and conscience, shall be punished in their persons or estates; or leaving all loose and at large, as to practice; and so unaccountable to all but God and the magistrate.

    A Brief Account of the Rise and Progress of the People Called Quakers William Penn 1681

  • It is ordinary heathen libertinism which is disseminated by these

    The Beginnings of Christianity. Vol. I. 1872-1939 1903

  • A French traveler reported in the 1790s that “a great many husbands” patronized whorehouses as “a means to libertinism.”

    A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010

  • European visitors frequently commented on the “astonishing libertinism” of early American cities.

    A Renegade History of the United States Thaddeus Russell 2010

  • What they most disliked was the perceived moral laxity and libertinism of the West, which, interestingly, is exactly what Americans said when we polled them on those two questions.

    Matthew Yglesias » Blankley Calls for Comprehensive Press Censorship 2009

  • But the Sacred Order of Libertines doesn't really have an official position on such matters; that would be quite at odds with our libertinism.

    Outer Alliance Pride Day Hal Duncan 2009

  • But the Sacred Order of Libertines doesn't really have an official position on such matters; that would be quite at odds with our libertinism.

    Archive 2009-08-01 Hal Duncan 2009

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