The Meaning of Freelance: What It Is and How To Use It

What does the word freelance mean, and how do people use it in everyday life? This article will provide info about the meaning of freelance.

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Do you know anyone who works a freelance job? Maybe you even work freelance yourself! This article will define the word freelance and provide several example sentences containing the word freelance. Then, it will teach you translations, synonyms, and antonyms of the word freelance. Let’s get into it!

What Does Freelance Mean?

According to Dictionary, freelance can be either a noun or verb that refers to someone who works by selling their work or services by the hour or job rather than being salaried by a single employer. The pronunciation of freelance is ˈfriː lɑːns.

How Can You Use Freelance in a Sentence?

Freelance is a fairly common word in the English language. You might frequently hear it if you discuss employment, careers, and job opportunities. Take a glance at the below example sentences containing this word of the day. 

Sarah does freelance work in graphic design and web design to get some extra cash for her savings outside of her salaried position.

The freelance writer landed a guest article with the New York Times. After that, her services were more in demand than ever!

The freelance journalist and copywriter grew tired of the daily grind to try and get his next assignment and make ends meet. He was barely making his rent every month and considered trying to find a salary position instead.

If you decide to pursue a freelance career, you will file your taxes with the IRS differently than a person who is salaried by an employer.

The micro-influencer works on a freelance basis doing sponsored social media posts and other content, but his real job is as a sales associate at a toy store.

During college, I worked several freelance jobs to pay for my tuition. I was a babysitter, a maid, a dog walker, and more! I don’t know how I used to balance that with my classes. Now, I’m exhausted from just one job!

The freelance photographer based his pricing on the number of sessions he got on average per month and the amount of money he needed to pay his bills. 

The freelance worker had to purchase health insurance once he stopped working for the company. It was one luxury that he sorely missed from being employed full-time.

She chose to quit her 9-to-5 and pursue a freelance writing career.

What Is the Etymology of Freelance?

In the Middle Ages, people used the word freelance to refer to a mercenary soldier who could offer their services to any cause, party, or state. Later in the 19th century, this term began to be applied to other fields of work. 

What Are Translations of Freelance?

People freelance all around the world, and not just in countries where they speak American English. IF you are trying to describe this type of work to someone who doesn’t know English, you can use this list of translations of freelance from Nice Translator. This could be very useful if you are trying to work in another country. 

  • Marathi: फ्रीलान्स
  • Chinese (PRC): 自由职业者
  • Serbian: Хонораран
  • Hebrew: עצמאי
  • Russian: внештатный
  • Icelandic: Sjálfstætt
  • Czech: na volné noze
  • Kannada: ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರ
  • Portuguese (Portugal): freelance
  • Urdu: فری لانس
  • Arabic: حسابهم الخاص
  • Italian: libero professionista
  • French: freelance
  • Chinese (Taiwan): 自由職業者
  • Malay: bebas
  • Lithuanian: Laisvai samdoma
  • Croatian: freelance
  • Portuguese (Brazil): freelance
  • Polish: wolny zawód
  • Vietnamese: tự do.
  • Korean: 프리랜서
  • Finnish: freelance
  • Basque: autokain
  • Swedish: frilans
  • Bengali: ফ্রিল্যান্স
  • Malayalam: വഴങ്ങല്
  • Telugu: ఫ్రీలాన్స్
  • Romanian: independent
  • Welsh: Llawrydd
  • Hindi: फ्रीलांस
  • Ukrainian: позаштатний
  • Thai: อาชีพอิสระ
  • Hungarian: szabadúszó
  • German: freiberuflich
  • Gujarati: ફ્રીલાન્સ
  • Bulgarian: свободна практика
  • Slovak: nezávislý
  • Tamil: ஃப்ரீலான்ஸ்
  • Spanish: Lanza libre
  • Latvian: ārštata līdzens
  • Filipino: malayang trabahador
  • Amharic: ነፃ
  • Dutch: freelance
  • Estonian: vabakutseline
  • Catalan: freelance
  • Japanese: フリーランス
  • Indonesian: bekerja lepas
  • Turkish: serbest
  • Greek: ανεξάρτητος

What Are Synonyms of Freelance?

If you are looking for a word to use in place of the word freelance, look no further than this list of synonyms of freelance from Power Thesaurus

Learning synonyms is useful in many ways. For example, you can use a synonym of freelance if you feel that you have overused the word, or you can study synonyms to expand your current vocabulary. 

  • apply oneself
  • be gainfully employed
  • casual
  • condottiere
  • do a job
  • do business
  • drive
  • earn a living
  • free
  • free agent
  • free companion
  • free-standing
  • freelancer
  • freelancing
  • have a job
  • hold a job
  • independent
  • independently
  • independents
  • knuckle down
  • labor
  • legionnaire
  • manage
  • mercenary
  • moonlight
  • non-staff
  • outside
  • part-time
  • peg away
  • plug away
  • ply
  • punch a clock
  • rugged individualist
  • self-contained
  • self-employed
  • self-employed person
  • soldier for hire
  • soldier of fortune
  • specialize
  • temporary
  • unaffiliated
  • work

What Are Antonyms of Freelance?

Several words also have the opposite meaning of the word freelance. Study these words below from Power Thesaurus.

  • absorbed
  • applied
  • apply
  • at it
  • at work
  • busy
  • employ
  • employed
  • employee
  • engage
  • engaged
  • engrossed
  • exercised
  • exerted
  • exploited
  • hard at it
  • hard at work
  • hire
  • hired
  • in a 9-to-5
  • in a job
  • in employment
  • in harness
  • in use
  • in work
  • involved
  • laboring
  • leased
  • occupied
  • on duty
  • on the go
  • on the job
  • one employer
  • operated
  • operating
  • performing
  • preoccupied
  • pursuing
  • recruit
  • recruited
  • rented
  • running
  • salaried
  • tied up
  • used
  • utilize
  • utilized
  • waged
  • worked
  • working
  • working 9-to-5

Conclusion

Freelance (ˈfriˌlæns) is a noun and a verb that means working for multiple companies on an hourly or job-to-job basis rather than being employed by a singular employer. 

Sources:

  1. Freelance synonyms – 446 Words and Phrases for Freelance | Power Thesaurus 
  2. Freelance Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
  3. Employed synonyms – 467 Words and Phrases for Employed | Power Thesaurus  
  4. Freelance | Nice Translator