I don't think Adam Smith defined this exactly, can you show me what you're referring to? I also think your description is very iffy. "A market which approaches

I don't think Adam Smith defined this exactly, can you show me what you're referring to? I also think your description is very iffy. "A market which approaches a state of perfect competition" depends on what amount of competition you think is perfect. Furthermore, it could be achieved either through regulating or not regulating (depending on what you think "perfect" is), so the term doesn't really say anything about actual policies. The very intuitive meaning of free market is an unregulated one, IMO. I'm not able to find an ubiquitous or official definition, but most top google results lean in this direction. I do think that conflating the means (unregulated market) with the end goal (perfect competition market) into the term "free market" is a brilliant marketing move for free market advocates, but it's somewhat dishonest.