thought unrestrained and uninfluenced by dogma or authority, esp in religious matters
free thought in American English
noun
thought unrestrained by deference to authority, tradition, or established belief, esp. in matters of religion
Word origin
[1705–15]This word is first recorded in the period 1705–15. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: condominium, encore, focal point, jackknife, shellac
Examples of 'free thought' in a sentence
free thought
Their attack is not on cruelty to animals but on free speech, free thought, freedom from fear.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Money can buy most things but not free thought, not authentic cleverness.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Free thought is really freedom from thought.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
It was a good principle, a promising ancestor of modern free thought.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
He is blamed for his elevation of revelation over reason, to which is attributed a constriction of free thought.
The Times Literary Supplement (2014)
The presumption is that sportspeople are incapable of free thought and must be told by the suits which campaigns to endorse.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Free thought, independence of spirit and attachment to principle are to be crushed.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But although bodies, especially female ones, suffer censorship, the core concern is ideology — free thought, free speech.