Standard Lemma guide

freeware

noun · 2 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfɹiːˌwɛə/
  • General-American: /ˈfɹiːˌwɛɹ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F R IY1 W EH2 R Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Complete and functional software that does not require payment or other compensation (such as viewing advertising) for its use. Freeware may be a proprietary license with no access to the source code.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences, software

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

software that is provided without charge

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: software, software program, computer software, software system, software package, package

History

Etymology

From free + -ware, a contraction of software; Coined by Andrew Fluegelman.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 免費軟件 /免费软件 (miǎnfèi ruǎnjiàn) — free of charge software
  • Chinese Mandarin: 免費軟體 /免费软体 (miǎnfèi ruǎntǐ) — free of charge software
  • Czech: freeware — free of charge software
  • Danish: gratisprogram — free of charge software
  • Dutch: freeware — free of charge software
  • Estonian: vabavara — free of charge software
  • Finnish: freeware — free of charge software
  • French: gratuiciel — free of charge software
  • German: Freeware — free of charge software
  • Greek: δωρισμικό (dorismikó) — free of charge software
  • Hebrew: תכנה חינמית (tokhna khinamit) — free of charge software
  • Indonesian: peranti cuma-cuma — free of charge software
  • Indonesian: peranti gratis — free of charge software
  • Japanese: フリーウェア (furīwea) — free of charge software
  • Korean: 프리웨어 (peuriweeo) — free of charge software
  • Malay: perisian percuma — free of charge software
  • Norwegian: gratisprogram — free of charge software
  • Polish: freeware — free of charge software
  • Portuguese: programa gratuito — free of charge software
  • Portuguese: programa grátis — free of charge software
  • Portuguese: software gratuito — free of charge software
  • Portuguese: software grátis — free of charge software
  • Russian: беспла́тное ПО (besplátnoje PO) — free of charge software
  • Russian: фри́ве́р (frívɛ́r) — free of charge software
  • Swedish: gratisprogram — free of charge software