libertine

[ lib-er-teen, -tin ]

noun

1. a person who is morally or sexually unrestrained, especially a dissolute man; a profligate; rake.

   Synonyms: sensualist, lecher, debauchee, roué

   Antonyms: prude

2. a freethinker in religious matters.
3. a person freed from slavery in ancient Rome.

adjective

1. free of moral, especially sexual, restraint; dissolute; licentious.

   Synonyms: lewd, lascivious, sensual, amoral

2. freethinking in religious matters.
3. Archaic. unrestrained; uncontrolled.

libertine

/ ˈlɪbəˌtiːn; -ˌtaɪn /

noun

1. a morally dissolute person

adjective

1. morally dissolute

Derived Forms

• ˈliberˌtinage, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of libertine¹

1350–1400; Middle English libertyn < Latin lībertīnus of a freedman (adj.), freedman (noun), equivalent to lībert ( us ) freedman (apparently by reanalysis of liber-tās liberty as libert-ās ) + -īnus -ine ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of libertine¹

C14 (in the sense: freedman, dissolute person): from Latin lībertīnus freedman, from lībertus freed, from līber free

Example Sentences

That view treats Middle America as a catchall for sensibility, moral uprightness and a mythical strain of virtue incorrectly believed to be absent from the supposedly libertine coasts or in large cities.

From Salon

Trump, 77, has a libertine past, a salesman’s flair and an extraordinary instinct for insult.

From Seattle Times

But it's quite clear from the polling that most conservative evangelical Christians like the libertine, gutter-snipe Donald Trump even more than the rest of the Republican Party.

From Salon

Musk begged Trump to come back to Twitter with vulgar memes like this designed to entice the libertine ex-president:

From Salon

When he first sang with Stills and Nash in California, he knew his future lay in its libertine lifestyle.

From New York Times