The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - independentadj.

1) free, self-governing, autonomous, sovereign: In 1829 Greece was acknowledged as an independent state. 2) unrestrained, unrestricted, unfettered, untrammelled, unregulated, uncontrolled, separate(d) , unconnected, disconnected, unrelated, distinct: Air is made up of independent particles. 3) self-reliant, self-sufficient, self-assured, (self-) confident, bold, individualistic, competent: For a six-year-old, he is very independent. 4) voluntary, non-partisan, spontaneous, unsolicited, unbidden, unprejudiced, unbiased, non-aligned, unaligned, disinterested, neutral: Four independent witnesses testified to seeing him at the scene of the crime. 5) unlimited, unrestricted, affluent, self-sufficient; unearned: She is a woman of independent means. 6 unallied, unaffiliated, uncommitted, individualistic, undecided: Independent candidates outnumber those of the two main parties in this election. 7) outside, external, unaffiliated, non-affiliated, unconnected, disinterested: An independent auditor was engaged to go over the company's books. 8 independent of. irrespective of, disregarding, notwithstanding, ignoring, excluding; exclusive of, except for, barring, apart from, besides, beyond, US aside from: He insists on doing things his way, independent of others' feelings. Independent of you and me, no one cares what he does. --n. 9) individual, nonconformist, maverick, Colloq loner: He is an independent, not affiliated to any political party.