Meanings
plural limousine liberals
- USderogatoryA wealthy person, liberal in politics but insulated from any adverse consequences of the policies they support.First known use 1969
1 more example
As soon as the word comes out of your mouth […] your own servant is going to size you up as one of those limousine liberals, or whatever epithet they use, who are busy pouring white soul all over the black movement, and would you do as much for the white lower class, for the domestics of the East Side, for example, fat chance, sahib.
1970 June 8, Tom Wolfe, “Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny's”, in New York MagazineSynonyms: latte liberal
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA wealthy person, liberal in politics but insulated from any adverse consequences of the policies they support.
Origin
First appeared c. 1969. Coined by Mario Procaccino in reference to New York mayor John Lindsay.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
limousine liberal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/limousine%20liberal
“limousine liberal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/limousine%20liberal. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “limousine liberal,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/limousine%20liberal.
Source: limousine liberal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.