FREE-SPIRITED Synonyms: 26 Similar and Opposite Words

free-spirited

adjective

as in nontraditional

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of free-spirited Jo, raised by her grandmother, is hyperactive, wild, free-spirited, and a talented artist but often acts out in school. — Parents, 25 Sep. 2026 Hoffs grew up in the quintessentially 1970s free-spirited SoCal environment. — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026 The film follows an insecure MBA student who fakes a broken ankle and poses as a medical student to win over a free-spirited woman who lives for music and dancing, only to see his lies unravel as real feelings take hold. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2026 His charming, vivacious ways created a safe space to be their free-spirited selves. — Pj Green september 11, Kansas City Star, 11 Sep. 2026 The enchanting look was fitting for a free-spirited witch lounging around her candlelit home sanctuary, as Kidman’s character Gillian might do. — Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026 Marianne, meanwhile, is the free-spirited sister who loves music and dancing even more. — Shelby Stivale, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Sep. 2026 While most resorts nowadays in Key West are predictably mainstream and family-friendly, the adults-only, clothing optional Island House Resort Key West is still testament to the island’s progressive, free-spirited ethos. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Aug. 2026 Steenburgen joined the series in season 2, portraying free-spirited musician and fellow professor Mona. — Erin Clack, PEOPLE, 22 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for free-spirited

Adjective

According to the Navy, this approach can help nontraditional defense companies move technologies from research and development toward procurement.

— Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 1 Oct. 2026
President Obama was accused of limiting access to independent photojournalists, and famously favored nontraditional media outlets at the advent of the social media age.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of nontraditional

Adjective

With Carrie, the architect of an elaborate dollhouse, and Florine, a painter whose iconoclastic canvases have made their way into the modernist canon, Ettie hosted a salon frequented by the day’s avant garde.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Oct. 2026
Golden, who is no stranger to voting against his party, has taken an iconoclastic approach to his last months in Congress by repeatedly backing Republican procedural votes.

— Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of iconoclastic

Adjective

This dogmatic approach to revolutionary citizenship led to the horrible treatment of any perceived as nonconformist, such as LGBTQ people, hippies or punks.

— Juan Carlos Albarran, The Conversation, 13 July 2026
In the end, Levine’s profile of the nonconformist genius reveals just how superb a dancer Cole was.

— R. Daniel Foster, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026

Definition of nonconformist

Adjective

The design was by aviation legend Burt Rutan, known for his bold and often maverick creations.

— Jacopo Prisco, CNN, 27 Jan. 2023
But the true landmark was Pierre Balmain’s Vent Vert, created by maverick female perfumer Germaine Cellier (also the mastermind behind Robert Piguet’s showstopping Fracas) in 1947.

— Town & Country, Town & Country, 19 Dec. 2022

Definition of maverick

Adjective

The regime transmuted its coercive force into political legitimacy through the spectacular destruction of dissident bodies, restoring reverence for the Eagle.

— Abdelrahman ElGendy, Time, 6 Oct. 2026
In January 1977 the writer, dissident, and future president of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel, was arrested by the Communist regime for his part in organizing the groundbreaking Czechoslovak human rights initiative, Charter 77.

— Václav Havel, The New York Review of Books, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of dissident

Adjective

This salad was a bit heretical—a hybridization of Roman puntarelle dressing and Venetian radicchios.

— Tamar Adler, Vogue, 29 Sep. 2026
Bell stars as heretic priest John Ball, while Garfield portrays a character called Ploughman, a grieving farmer who unintentionally finds himself in a leadership position.

— Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of heretical

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free-spirited

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“Free-spirited.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/free-spirited. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of free-spirited

adjective

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