free speech
/fɹiː ˈspiːtʃ/
free speech noun: freedom of speech; the ability or right to express one's opinions, particularly (strictly) the legal right to do so without the government forbidding it via laws, but also (loosely) the ability to do so without facing social repercussions, or one's employer firing one for it, or social media sites not hosting it on their platforms, etc.
Noun
free speech (uncountable)
- Freedom of speech; the ability or right to express one's opinions, particularly (strictly) the legal right to do so without the government forbidding it via laws, but also (loosely) the ability to do so without facing social repercussions, or one's employer firing one for it, or social media sites not hosting it on their platforms, etc.
- The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic.1929, Oliver Wendell Holmes (Jr.), The Dissenting Opinions of Mr. Justice Holmes, page 234
- Section 8 (c) of the act has been erroneously referred to since its passage as a free-speech provision. Actually this section permits the employer to intimidate and coerce employees in the exercise of their rights guaranteed by the act. It is not a question of free speech at all. Giving the...1953, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, Hearings, page 3631
- Synonyms:
- freedom of speech
- Speech which is protected by this right; public expression of one's opinions that is, or merits being, protected from restraint or censorship.
- […] shouting fire-panic-in-theatre is not free speech at all. It is an explosive, deadly action.1963, Supreme Court of the United States October Term, 1963, case of George Albert Rutherford against the United States of America (link)
- Saying certain things or posting fliers or writing in student or independent newspapers is not free speech but instead is sexual harassment or racial harassment.2007, Wells Earl Draughon, While America Sleeps: How Islam, Immigration and Indoctrination Are Destroying America from Within, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 116
free speech meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Arabic
free speech in Hindi
- the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)
- अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता abhivyakti kī svatantratā
free speech in Marathi
- the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)
- मुक्त भाषण mukta bhāṣaṇ
free speech in Urdu
- the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)
- آزادی گفتار āzādī guftār
free speech in Arabic
- the right to express an opinion in public (freedom of speech)
- حُرِّيَّة اَلتَّعْبِير ḥurriyyat at-taʕbīr, حُرِّيَّة الْكَلَام
More languagesFewer languages
- free speech in Persian
- آزادی بیان âzâdi-ye bayân
- free speech in Thai
- เสรีภาพในการพูด săyree pâap nai gaan pôot
- free speech in Vietnamese
- tự do ngôn luận
Examples of free speech in a sentence
- It is not a question of free speech at all.1953, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, Hearings, page 3631:
- Using “free speech” as a cop-out is just as intellectually dishonest and just as morally bankrupt. […] Free speech is a bedrock value in this country.2019 October 4, Andrew Marantz, “Free Speech Is Killing Us”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN...
- I would argue that we must be concerned with free speech but that cyber racism is not free speech, it is racist speech that provides an opportunity to devalue part of humankind ...2017, Fernne Brennan, Race Rights Reparations: Institutional Racism and The Law, Routledge, →ISBN:
Synonyms of free speech
Words formed from free speech
Questions about free speech
- What does free speech mean?
- Free speech means freedom of speech; the ability or right to express one's opinions, particularly (strictly) the legal right to do so without the government forbidding it via laws, but also (loosely) the ability to do so without facing social repercussions, or one's employer firing one for it, or social media sites not hosting it on their platforms, etc.
- What is free speech in Hindi?
- Free speech in Hindi is अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता (abhivyakti kī svatantratā). See Free speech meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use free speech in a sentence?
- It is not a question of free speech at all.
- What part of speech is free speech?
- Free speech is a noun.
- How do you pronounce free speech?
- Free speech is pronounced /fɹiː ˈspiːtʃ/.
Words near free speech in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: free speech (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-free speech.wav.
Cite this entry: “free speech.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/free_speech. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.