Adjective

(en adjective)

Of, pertaining to, being, or resembling an island or islands.

* 1836 , , Astoria , ch. 6:

With these he held undisputed sway over his insular domains, and carried on intercourse with the chiefs or governors whom he had placed in command of the several islands.

Situated on an island.

* 1851 , , Moby-Dick , ch. 1:

There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, belted round by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs.

Separate or isolated from the surroundings; having little interaction with external parties; provincial.

* 1903 , , Call of the Wild , ch. 1:

[H]e had a fine pride in himself, was even a trifle egotistical, as country gentlemen sometimes become because of their insular situation.

Having an inward-looking, standoffish, or withdrawn manner.

* 1905 , , Where Angels Fear to Tread , ch. 6:

Harriet was fretful and insular . Miss Abbott was pleasant, and insisted on praising everything.

Relating to the insula in the brain.

Adjective

(en adjective)

Restrictive to individual choice and freedom.

* {{quote-news

, date = 2004-12-15 , title = Illiberal Europe , author = Emanuele Ottolenghi , newspaper = (The Jerusalem Post) , issn = 0021-597X , passage = Behind Europe's commitment to liberal democracy lurks an illiberal tradition. Every time freedom has failed in Europe, it is to that tradition - of violent repression, totalitarianism, xenophobia, and intolerance - that Europeans have reverted. }}

* {{quote-news

, date = 2005-02-20 , title = The Risks in Personal Accounts , newspaper = (The Washington Post) , issn = 0190-8286 , page = B06 , url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38527-2005Feb19.html , passage = Unless the administration compels all workers to invest in life cycle accounts — an illiberal but nonetheless sensible idea — this particular danger cannot be eliminated. }}

narrow-minded; bigoted

* {{quote-book

, year=1781 , author=William Robertson , title=The history of Scotland during the reigns of Queen Mary and of King James IV , volume=II , page=141 , pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=T_oLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA141 , passage=Accordingly, that form of Popery, which prevailed in Scotland, was of the mo?t bigotted and illiberal kind.}}

* {{quote-book

, year=1894 , author=John Marshall Barker , title=Colleges in America , chapter=The Planting of Colleges in the New World , page=29 , pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=TFhZ9tSOC7EC&pg=PA29 , passage=While they maintained a denominational character, they were in nowise illiberal , and set up no religious test for entrance.}}

ungenerous, stingy

* {{quote-book

, year=1901 , author=Justin McCarthy, Justin Huntly McCarthy , title=A History of the Four Georges and of William IV , volume=IV , passage=...the final offer made on the part of the King was that the Queen should have an allowance of 52,000 pounds a year— not, one would have thought, a very illiberal allowance for the daughter of a small German prince...}}

* {{quote-book

, year=1917 , author= , title=Political Ideals , chapter=Chapter II: Capitalism and the Wage System , passage=The few who are more fortunate are rendered illiberal by their unjust privileges, and oppressive through fear of the awakening indignation of the masses. From the highest to the lowest, almost all men are absorbed in the economic struggle: the struggle to acquire what is their due or to retain what is not their due.}}