Meanings
alternative post-liberal
- not comparablegovernmentAfter the introduction of liberalism; following or opposing liberalism; antiliberal.
Near-synonym: neo-reactionary
3 more examples
But if we hope to create a humane postliberal future, we cannot pretend that the age of liberalism did not happen or that its basic contours can simply be jettisoned in some sort of restoration of an idyllic preliberal age.
2018, Patrick J. Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed, New Haven: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 184He [Patrick Deneen] also offers a vague reassurance that the postliberal future will not revive the prejudice and bigotry of the past.
2023 June 7, Jennifer Szalai, “When ‘Regime Change’ Means Returning America to an Idealized Past”, in The New York Times, →ISSNThe essence of the initial postliberal movement, in Pinkoski’s view, is the abandonment of the “essential tenet of liberalism: the state-society, public-private distinction,” in favor of a model of politics in which the state acts in a concert with an ever-widening array of nongovernmental partners, […].
2024 November 1, Ross Douthat, “Who Abandoned Liberalism First, the Populists or the Establishment?”, in The New York Times, →ISSNAntonyms: preliberal
- not comparablelifestyleRelating to postliberal theology.
plural postliberals · alternative post-liberal
- A proponent of postliberalism.
He [Patrick Deneen] calls on postliberals to aim big, “embracing, fostering and protecting not only the nation but that which is both smaller and larger than the nation.”
2023 June 7, Jennifer Szalai, “When ‘Regime Change’ Means Returning America to an Idealized Past”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveAfter the introduction of liberalism; following or opposing liberalism; antiliberal.
Origin
Cite this entry
postliberal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postliberal
“postliberal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postliberal. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “postliberal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/postliberal.
Source: postliberal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.