Standard Lemma guide

freestyle

noun · verb · 12 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈfɹiːˌstaɪl/
  • /fɹiˌstaɪəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F R IY1 S T AY2 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A sports event where competitors can choose their own method of participation.

A swimming event in which the contestants may choose any stroke.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, sports, swimming

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A sports event where competitors can choose their own method of participation.

A swimming event in which the contestants may choose any stroke.

The swimming stroke commonly referred to as the front crawl or the Australian crawl.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, countable, uncountable

Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, sports, swimming

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A sports event where competitors can choose their own method of participation.

A cross-country skiing event in which the competitors may choose any style of skiing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, skiing, sports

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A sports event where competitors can choose their own method of participation.

A cross-country skiing event in which the competitors may choose any style of skiing.

The skiing style commonly referred to as skating.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, countable, uncountable

Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, skiing, sports

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A sports event where competitors can choose their own method of participation.

A style of wrestling in which any non-injurious holds are permitted.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: government, hobbies, lifestyle, martial-arts, military, politics, sports, war, wrestling

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A form of rapping in which the emcee makes up lyrics while performing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

Anything done in an improvised or unrestricted way.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: attributive, broadly, countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

Ellipsis of Latin freestyle, a form of electronic dance music.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

verb

Meaning 9

To improvise one's own style; to ad-lib.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: especially, intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

verb

Meaning 10

To improvise one's dance moves; dance freely.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

verb

Meaning 11

To improvise something in an unrestricted way.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

noun

Meaning 12

a race (as in swimming) in which each contestant has a free choice of the style to use

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: race

History

Etymology

From free + style.

Across languages

Translations

89 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 自由式 (zìyóushì) — sports event where competitors can choose their own method of participation
  • Finnish: freestyle — sports event where competitors can choose their own method of participation
  • Spanish: estilo libre — sports event where competitors can choose their own method of participation
  • Bulgarian: свободен стил (svoboden stil) — swimming event
  • Chinese Mandarin: 自由泳 (zìyóuyǒng) — swimming event
  • Chinese Mandarin: 自由式 (zìyóushì) — swimming event
  • Finnish: vapaauinti — swimming event
  • French: nage libre — swimming event
  • German: Freistilschwimmen — swimming event
  • German: Freistil — swimming event
  • Greek: ελεύθερο (eléfthero) — swimming event
  • Hungarian: szabadúszás — swimming event
  • Italian: stile libero — swimming event
  • Italian: ginnastica a corpo libero — swimming event
  • Japanese: フリースタイル (furīsutairu) — swimming event
  • Japanese: 自由形 (jiyūgata) — swimming event
  • Korean: 프리스타일 (peuriseutail) — swimming event
  • Korean: 자유형 (jayuhyeong) — swimming event
  • Portuguese: estilo livre — swimming event
  • Portuguese: nado livre — swimming event
  • Spanish: natación libre — swimming event
  • Swedish: frisim — swimming event
  • Bulgarian: кроул (kroul) — front crawl
  • Chinese Cantonese: 自由式 (zi6 jau4 sik1) — front crawl
  • Chinese Cantonese: 捷泳 — front crawl
  • Chinese: 掠篙泅 (zh-min-nan) — front crawl
  • Chinese: 搤跤泅 (iah-kha-siû) — front crawl
  • Chinese: 仆水泅 (phak-chúi-siû) — front crawl
  • Chinese: 自由式 (chū-iû-sek) — front crawl
  • Chinese Mandarin: 自由泳 (zìyóuyǒng) — front crawl
  • Chinese Mandarin: 自由式 (zìyóushì) — front crawl
  • Chinese Mandarin: 捷泳 (jiéyǒng) — front crawl
  • Chinese Mandarin: 爬泳 (páyǒng) — front crawl
  • Danish: fri svømning — front crawl
  • Finnish: krooli — front crawl
  • Finnish: vapaauinti — front crawl
  • French: crawl — front crawl
  • German: Freistilschwimmen — front crawl
  • German: Freistil — front crawl
  • Greek: ελεύθερο (eléfthero) — front crawl
  • Hungarian: gyorsúszás — front crawl
  • Italian: bracciata libera — front crawl
  • Japanese: フリースタイル (furīsutairu) — front crawl
  • Korean: 프리스타일 (peuriseutail) — front crawl
  • Māori: kau tāwhai — front crawl
  • Māori: kau tāhoe — front crawl
  • Norwegian: fri svømning — front crawl
  • Persian: شنای آزاد (šenâ-ye âzâd) — front crawl
  • Persian: کرال سینه (kerâl-e sine) — front crawl
  • Portuguese: crawl — front crawl
  • Russian: во́льный стиль (vólʹnyj stilʹ) — front crawl
  • Russian: фриста́йл (fristájl) — front crawl
  • Spanish: crol frontal — front crawl
  • Swedish: frisim — front crawl
  • Yiddish: קלאַפֿטערשוווּם (klaftershvum) — front crawl
  • Yiddish: קלאַפֿטער (klafter) — front crawl
  • Chinese Mandarin: 自由式 (zìyóushì) — style of wrestling
  • Chinese Mandarin: 自由式摔跤 (zìyóushì shuāijiāo) — style of wrestling
  • Finnish: vapaapaini — style of wrestling
  • Greek: ελεύθερη (eléftheri) — style of wrestling
  • Persian: کشتی آزاد (košti-ye âzâd) — style of wrestling
  • Portuguese: vale-tudo — style of wrestling
  • Spanish: valetodo — style of wrestling
  • Finnish: freestyle — form of rapping
  • French: freestyle — form of rapping
  • Polish: freestyle — form of rapping
  • Polish: fristajl — form of rapping
  • Portuguese: freestyle — form of rapping
  • Spanish: freestyle — form of rapping
  • Dutch: freestylen — to ad-lib in rap music
  • Greek: αυτοσχεδιάζω (aftoschediázo) — to ad-lib in rap music
  • Māori: ohia — to ad-lib in rap music
  • Polish: freestyle'ować — to ad-lib in rap music
  • Polish: fristajlować — to ad-lib in rap music
  • Icelandic: spuna — to improvise
  • Swedish: brösta — to improvise
  • Swedish: fjädra — to improvise
  • Swedish: frilira — to improvise
  • Swedish: frirälsa — to improvise
  • Swedish: fri­stila — to improvise
  • Swedish: höfta — to improvise
  • Swedish: kråma — to improvise
  • Swedish: pråla — to improvise
  • Swedish: spåna — to improvise
  • Swedish: svansa — to improvise
  • Swedish: svissa — to improvise
  • Swedish: improvisera — to improvise
  • Swedish: impulsera — to improvise
  • Swedish: extemporera — to improvise
Real reading context

freestyle in complete knowledge articles