Such a waste of a perfectly good word...to run away from it. In any dictionary, Liberal is a good thing. You cant say that about half the definitions of conservative.
Roget's ThesaurusEntry: liberal
Function: adjective
Definition: progressive
Synonyms: advanced, avant-garde, big, broad, broad-minded, catholic, detached, disinterested, dispassionate, enlightened, flexible, free, general, high-minded, humanistic, humanitarian, impartial, indulgent, inexact, intelligent, interested, latitudinarian, left, lenient, libertarian, loose, magnanimous, not close, not literal, not strict, permissive, pink, radical, rational, reasonable, receiving, receptive, reformist, tolerant, unbiased, unbigoted, unconventional, understanding, unorthodox, unprejudiced
Concept: freedom
Source: Roget's Interactive Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.0.0) Copyright © 2004 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Entry: liberal
Function: adjective
Definition: giving
Synonyms: altruistic, beneficent, benevolent, big, bighearted, bounteous, bountiful, casual, charitable, eleemosynary, exuberant, free, generous, good Joe, handsome, kind, lavish, loose, munificent, open-handed, open-hearted, philanthropic, prince, prodigal, profuse, Santa Claus, soft touch, softie, unselfish, unsparing, unstinging
Entry: conservative
Function: adjective
Definition: moderate
Synonyms: bourgeois, cautious, constant, controlled, conventional, die-hard, fearful, firm, fogyish, fuddy-duddy, guarded, hard hat, hidebound, holding to, illiberal, inflexible, middle-of-the-road, not extreme, obstinate, old guard, old-line, orthodox, quiet, red-neck, right, right-wing, sober, stable, steady, timid, traditional, traditionalistic, unchangeable, unchanging, uncreative, undaring, unimaginative, unprogressive, white bread
Antonyms: incautious, left-wing, liberal, progressive, radical, revolutionary
Concept: personality quality
Source: Roget's Interactive Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.0.0)
Copyright © 2004 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Entry: conservative
Function: noun
Definition: moderate
Synonyms: bitter-ender, classicist, conserver, conventionalist, die-hard, fossil, hard hat, middle-of-the-roader, moderate, moderatist, obstructionist, old fogy, old guard, old liner, preserver, reactionary, red-neck, right, right-winger, rightist, silk-stocking, standpat, stick-in-the-mud, Tory, traditionalist, unprogressive
Antonyms: left-winger, liberal, radical
Concept: govt/political entity
Source: Roget's Interactive Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.0.0)
Copyright © 2004 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Many more meanings...
Conservative
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http://thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=liberal