verlig, adjective

/fə(r)ˈləx/
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, ‘enlightened’ (the predicative form; cf. verligte).
Usually in the context of politics, particularly on issues of race: open-minded, enlightened, progressive; verligte adjective. Cf. verkramp.
1969 J. Mervis in Sunday Times 24 Aug. 25The odd thing about the whole affair is that the word ‘verlig’ should become an embarrassment to Nationalists...There must be few countries where it is an insult to be called ‘enlightened’.
1970 Daily News 12 MayGiven the limited options available..Mr. Vorster has been reasonably verlig — even kragdadig — in reshuffling his Cabinet.
1970 Daily News 12 JulyWe are not as permissive as Natal, where one can even watch professional football on a Sunday, but much more verlig than the Free State, where God help you if they catch you fishing on the wrong side of the Vaal.
1971 Daily Dispatch 6 Sept. 6Slowly but inevitably..White South Africa is becoming more modern and in a sense more ‘verlig’.
1975 Drum 22 Apr. 2I hear everybody talking about Mr Vorster’s verlig turn and his detente.
1982 J. Degenaar in E. Prov. Herald 30 June 2The distinction between verlig and verkramp is valid within the limited world of Afrikaner politics, but meaningless when the dynamic presence of the black man is taken into account.
1986 P. Moorcraft in Frontline June 26Such an outcome might satisfy both verlig and verkramp sentiments in South Africa. Some of the costs of defending South West could be invested in reforms at home, as well as building up new, more defensible military lines along the Orange.
1991 G. Evans in Weekly Mail 20 Dec. (Suppl.) 11The DP..found itself squeezed by an increasingly verlig NP on the one side, and to a lesser extent by a less radical ANC on the other.
open-minded, enlightened, progressive; verligte adjective.
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Afrikaans
verlep, adjectiveadj.verligte, nounn. & adjectiveadj.
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