I. adjective
also laisser-faire |le](ˌ)sā|fa(a)](ə)r, |lā], -fe], ]ə also ](ˌ)zā|f- sometimes ]sē|f- or ]si|f- or ]zē|f- or ]zi|f-
Etymology: laissez-faire from French laissez faire let (people) do (as they choose) (motto of 18th century French economists who protested excessive government regulation of industry); laisser-faire from French laisser faire to let (people) do (as they choose)
: of, adhering to, or favoring the doctrine or practice of laissez-faire
in economic philosophy the High Victorians were mainly laissez-faire — Saturday Review
economic liberalism of the laissez-faire type — Frank Thilly
the social disorganization and laisser-faire purposelessness … present in the cultural life of these young people — Ernest & Pearl Beaglehole
II. noun
also laisser-faire “
( -s )
1. : a doctrine opposing governmental interference (as by regulation or subsidy) in economic affairs beyond the minimum necessary for the maintenance of peace and property rights
the reaction against free trade and laissez-faire — Atlantic
few people … hold that laissez-faire could solve the economic problems of the British community — Economist
a central position between laissez-faire and a planned economy — J.S.Schapiro
— compare free enterprise , mercantilism , planned economy
2. : a philosophy or practice characterized by a usually deliberate abstention from direction or planning : a policy of noninterference especially with individual freedom of choice and action
a poverty that proclaimed laissez-faire in ethics — Francis Hackett
the unhampered elective system which is merely the pedagogical form of … laisser-faire — P.E.More
a policy of laisser-faire towards the artists — Times Lit Supplement
— compare managerialism