From French indépendant, equivalent to in- +‎ dependent.

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪn.dɪˈpɛn.dənt/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: in‧de‧pend‧ent

independent (comparative more independent, superlative most independent)

1. Not dependent; not contingent or depending on something else; free.
   • 2022 May 14, Jari Tanner, “Putin warns Finland NATO membership would harm relations”, in AP News‎^[1], archived from the original on 14 May 2022:

     Niinisto pointed out that he had already told Putin at their first meeting in 2012 that “each independent nation would maximize its own security.”
     “That is still the case. By joining NATO, Finland will strengthen its own security and assume its responsibilities. It is not something away from anybody,” Niinisto said.

2. (politics) Not affiliated with any political party.

   the independent candidate

   • 2000 October 3, Tim Paluch, “Gore vs. Bush: That's Debatable”, in Iowa State Daily‎^[2]:

     At one point in the debate, the moderator asked a tough question that had the candidates stumped.
     Moderator: "This question is for both of the candidates. Those ever-important independent voters who haven’t decided who to vote for would like to know what the real differences between you two are."
     Gore: "I think the real difference between Governor Bush and I is that he is in fact a Republican, and I am currently a Democrat."
     Moderator: "That doesn’t really answer the question, I am talking about issues."
     Bush: "No, he is right. I am a Republican, and he is a Democrat."

   • 2020 October 10, Sarah Mucha, “‘A moment to put country above party’: Biden makes appeal to disaffected Republican and independent voters”, in CNN‎^[3], archived from the original on 11 January 2021:

     Joe Biden is making a clear attempt to appeal to disaffected Republicans and independent voters in the final weeks of the election, promising he’d be a president that would work hard not just for those who support him, but also for those who do not.

3. Providing a comfortable livelihood.

   an independent property

4. Not subject to bias or influence; self-directing.

   a man of an independent mind

5. Separate from; exclusive; irrespective.
   • 1795, Robert Plumer Ward, An Enquiry into the Foundation and History of the Law of Nations in Europe from the Time of the Greeks and Romans to the Age of Grotius:

     That obligation in general, under which we conceive ourselves bound to obey a law, independent of those resources which the law provides for its own enforcement.

• autonomous
• free
• self-standing
• substantive
• (politics) crossbencher

• contingent
• dependent

• language-independent
• order-independent
• redshift-independent
• system-dependent

independent (plural independents)

1. A candidate or voter not affiliated with any political party, a freethinker, free of a party platform.
   • 2025 June 27, Zachary B. Wolf, “Trump is losing support among independent voters. Who are they?”, in CNN‎^[4]:

     “Independents opposed the bill by around a 3-to-1 margin … The KFF and Fox News polls – the ones with the fewest undecideds – showed 7 in 10 independents opposed it,” Blake wrote.

2. A neutral or uncommitted person.
3. A small, privately owned business.
   • 2022 November 25, Sarah Baxter et al., “Britain's 15 best high streets – where Christmas shopping is a pleasure”, in The Telegraph‎^[5], archived from the original on 25 November 2022:

     It’s a great hub for shopping: the high street is pedestrianised and many of the town’s 600-odd listed buildings house fabulous independents – speciality food stores, cafes, antique shops, clothing boutiques.

4. (sports) A team not affiliated with any league or conference.

• “independent”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• independent in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “independent”, in The Century Dictionary[…], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [in.də.pənˈden]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [in.də.pənˈdent]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [in.de.penˈdent]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ent

independent m or f (masculine and feminine plural independents)

1. independent

   Antonym: dependent

• independència

• “independent”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “independent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “independent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “independent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

independent m (feminine singular independenta, masculine plural independents, feminine plural independentas)

1. independent

   Antonym: dependent

• independéncia

• индепендент (independent) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Borrowed from French indépendant. Equivalent to in- +‎ dependent.

• IPA^(key): /in.de.penˈdent/
• Rhymes: -ent
• Hyphenation: in‧de‧pen‧dent

independent m or n (feminine singular independentă, masculine plural independenți, feminine/neuter plural independente)

1. independent, self-sufficient

• “independent”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

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