a person who is self-determining and is not responsible for his or her actions to any authority.
2.
a professional athlete who is not under contract and is free to auction off his or her services and sign a contract with the team that offers the most money.
Origin
1840-50
Related forms
free agency, free agentry, noun
Examples from the web for free agent
Fish, of course, has long placed himself as a free agent who sees through these petty matters.
When you go to an exhibition of new paintings, you are not a free agent.
There was a trio of free agent outfielders available this offseason whose fantasy values figured to be fairly similar.
The pool of free agent starting pitchers is shrinking as spring training approaches.
If you are interested in playing a sport but don't have a team, use the link below to download a free agent form.
For teams needing players, a free agent list is available.
British Dictionary definitions for free agent
free agent
noun
1.
a person whose actions are not constrained by others
Idioms and Phrases with free agent
free agent
.
A person not under compulsion or constraint, not responsible to any authority for his or her actions. For example, After he quit his job, he decided to pursue the same line of work as a free agent. Originally used to describe a person subject to the philosophic concept of free will (as opposed to determinism), this expression was first recorded in 1662. Later it was extended to mean “someone not under obligation to an authority.”
.
A professional athlete who is free to sign a contract with any team. For example, After he was released from the Yankees, he was a free agent and could shop around for the team that offered the most money. [ Second half of 1900s ]