freelancer

noun

free·​lanc·​er ˈfrē-ˌlan(t)-sər 

plural freelancers

1

: a person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any one employer : freelance sense 1

hired a freelancer to write the article

… there were hundreds of photographers on the scene, some on assignment, some freelancers, most of them amateurs.

—Garrison Keillor

But while Renzo is the ultimate company man, a lifetime employee who reports to the same office every morning, Riccardo is the prototypical freelancer, a peripatetic problem-solver with five-dozen clients.

—Bruce Schoenfeld

2

: a person who acts independently without being affiliated with or authorized by an organization : freelance sense 2b

[Anthony] Grafton contrasts public intellectuals outside and inside the universities, and he takes note of today's nostalgia for the freethinkers who lived and wrote independently of deans and classrooms. But it is good to be reminded that in that golden era of freelancers such as Wilson, H. L. Mencken, and Mary McCarthy, voices like theirs were also raised in universities.

—G. W. Bowersock

Examples of freelancer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

So delivering on two wheels is only going to work for a freelancer who is within a few miles of city amenities, such as supermarkets and restaurants. —Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Apr. 2026

Gina Grillo is a freelancer for Pioneer Press. —Gina Grillo, Chicago Tribune, 27 Apr. 2026

The company provided local news to newspapers throughout the United States by outsourcing assignments to freelancers who worked remotely. —Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Apr. 2026

That includes independent contractors, freelancers, temporary staff, and even workers who hold gigs in addition to a full-time job. —Tristan Bove, Fortune, 23 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1924, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for freelancer

• enhancer
• merganser
• romancer
• anser
• answer
• cancer
• dancer
• lancer
• anticancer
• necromancer