at liberty

1. Free, not obligated; also, not occupied. For example, I am not at liberty to tell you the whole story, or “I ... washed when there was a basin at liberty” (Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, 1847). This idiom is often used in a negative context, as in the first example. [First half of 1800s]

Example Sentences

According to their accounts, many of the teens and tweens at Liberty Godparent Home were raised in evangelical households and were spirited off to the home as a kind of spiritual corrective or face-saving mechanism by parents who seemed to care more about their own reputations than their daughters’ well-being.

From Slate

Maternity homes like the one at Liberty are part of the anti-abortion crusade to make America a “pro-life” nation.

From Slate

I also feel entirely at liberty with the table salt.

From Slate

Angelo Logan is senior director of environmental and climate justice at Liberty Hill Foundation.

From Los Angeles Times

“UTA and Michael Kassan have agreed to amicably end their dispute. The parties are not at liberty to comment further,” representatives for UTA and Kassan said in a joint statement on Thursday.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• able 
• at large 
• clear 
• easy 
• independent 
• loose 
• open 
• unfettered 
• unrestricted