liberal thinking person

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,

What is ‘a liberal thinking person’ mean?

Thanks.

2

Hi,

This is someone who has an open mind on different issues and is less inclined to be biased or hold conservative or traditional views.

Alan

3

The meaning of “a liberal-thinking person” depends on the context.

The classical meaning of it is as Alan has explained.

“Liberal” in the political sense classically means that the person favors more individual freedom and less government control.

However, in the United States, for some historical reason, “liberal” has come to mean the opposite, and it indicates someone who believes in more government control over people’s everyday lives. In US parlance, “conservative” usually indicates someone who generally favors less government control over people.

Both liberals and conservatives in the American sense can be “liberal-thinking”, meaning open to new ideas, or they may be quite “narrow-thinking”, meaning that they are not open to new ideas or to other people’s opinions. Many people who are referred to in the US as “liberal” are quite biased, and quite closed-minded, so they don’t fit the classical definition of “liberal”.

So what “liberal-thinking” means all depends on the context and the speaker’s intention.

4

Thanks. Is there any other ways to say a person who is open minded and favors more individual freedom since the phrase could be rather confusing?

Thanks.

5

You can just say what you said. They are open-minded and favor individual freedom.

6

Thanks.