illiberal

adjective

il·lib·er·al (ˌ)i(l)-ˈli-b(ə-)rəl

Synonyms of illiberal next

: not liberal: such as

: opposed to political liberalism

especially : restricting individual rights and freedoms

Her latest book … looks at how illiberal leaders use propaganda, corruption, violence and machismo … —

University of Hawaii

Authoritarian or hybrid regimes, no matter how illiberal, will still be treated as legitimate if they can provide security for their subjects and spark economic growth. —

Robert D. Kaplan

With the coming of the cold war, many Westerners were struck by the resemblance of Stalin's Russia to Hitler's Germany. Both were illiberal, highly centralized regimes that seemed to fit into the general designation of totalitarian states. —

Donald Kagan

: not broad-minded : bigoted

… used the migrant crisis to stir up racist, illiberal views.—

Eoin O'Malley

archaic : not generous : stingy

… Theobald felt quite good-natured, and sent … even more soup and wine than her usual not illiberal allowance.—

Samuel Butler

archaic : lacking culture and refinement

The tall gentleman came to meet her, looking very rigid and grave. But it was a rigidity that had no illiberal meaning.—

Henry James

Drunkenness, the most illiberal … of our vices, was sometimes capable, in a less civilized state of mankind, of occasioning a battle, a war, or a revolution.—

Edward Gibbon

archaic : lacking or permitting a lack of a liberal arts education

illiberal occupations

illiberality

(ˌ)i(l)-ˌli-bə-ˈra-lə-tē

noun

plural illiberalities

illiberally

(ˌ)i(l)-ˈli-b(ə-)rə-lē

adverb

illiberalness

(ˌ)i(l)-ˈli-b(ə-)rəl-nəs

noun

Examples of illiberal in a Sentence

an illiberal attitude toward sex an illiberal society that viewed any artistic depiction of the nude as inherently indecent

Recent Examples on the Web

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This anti-establishment sentiment, which favors illiberal solutions, is strongly rooted in the American psyche. —

Chris Jackson, Fortune, 4 Nov. 2024 The illiberal leader has found common cause with Georgia’s ruling party and was the first international leader to congratulate them after the election – even before the votes were officially tallied. —

Jill Dougherty, CNN, 27 Oct. 2024 Most courts would assess these deeply illiberal policies as violating basic democratic principles. —

Dahlia Scheindlin, Foreign Affairs, 27 Sep. 2024 This research shows that modern autocrats uniformly apply key building blocks to cement their illiberal agenda and undermine democracies before taking them over. —

Cecilia Menjívar, Scientific American, 23 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for illiberal