noun / adjective
libertine
LIB-er-teen/ˈlɪbərtiːn/
A person who rejects accepted moral or religious restraint.
The novel's hero is a libertine who rejects conventional morality.
Etymology
The pieces originally identified someone belonging to the class of freed people. The word later described a religious freethinker, then acquired the disapproving sense of a person unrestrained in moral or sexual conduct.
In context
By his own lights, he was a libertine.
More examples
- Church leaders condemn him as a libertine for challenging their authority.
- Her libertine lifestyle shocks her deeply conservative relatives.
- The play follows two libertines through a series of reckless affairs.
Forms
libertine · libertines
libertinism noun — Rejection of conventional moral or religious restraints.
Similar words
- rake
- Usually describes a man known for reckless sexual behavior.
- freethinker
- Rejects religious authority without necessarily rejecting moral restraint.
- licentious
- Describes sexual misconduct rather than rejection of religious authority.