maverick
noun
, ˈma-və-\
Definition of maverick
(Entry 1 of 2)
maverick
adjectiveDefinition of maverick (Entry 2 of 2)
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Synonyms & Antonyms for maverick
Synonyms: Noun
bohemian, boho, counterculturist, deviant, enfant terrible, free spirit, heretic, iconoclast, individualist, lone ranger, lone wolf, loner, nonconformer, nonconformist
Synonyms: Adjective
dissentient, dissenting, dissident, heretical (also heretic), heterodox, iconoclastic, nonconformist, nonorthodox, out-there, unconventional, unorthodox
Antonyms: Noun
Antonyms: Adjective
conforming, conformist, conventional, orthodox
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Examples of maverick in a Sentence
Noun
Let him refind his inner rebel, the famous irreverent maverick, let the tiger out of the cage. — Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, 28–29 June 2008 In the Senate, however, he had established himself as a bright and prickly maverick, not averse to sharp criticism of his own party, its policies, and its leaders, most especially Bill Clinton. — John Gregory Dunne, New York Review of Books, 13 June 2002 This, of course, is dangerous for the rest of us. With one successfully repatriated daughter, Papi might yank us all out of college and send us back. Not to mention that it's out and out creepy that Fifi, the maverick, is so changed. — Julia Alvarez, How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents, 1991 there's always one maverick who has to go his own wayAdjective
Occasionally nerves and veins take maverick pathways and show up in unexpected places. — Virginia Holman, Double Take, Winter 2002 Later British units, deprived of the opportunity for maverick expression by a revamped chain of UN command with a different political agenda, started spouting the organization's euphemisms that sought to paint every Bosnian side the same shade of guilty grey. — Anthony Loyd, My War Gone By, I Miss It So, 1999 He was maverick enough, original-minded enough, however, to realize that he could do better than simply follow Murray's orders to the letter. — Simon Winchester, The Professor and the Madman, 1998 George Sand's maverick views on marriage scandalized 19th-century French society.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Pickens made his first millions in oil, burnishing an image as a maverick, unafraid to take on giants in the oil patch. — Cliff Brunt, The Denver Post, "Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens dies at age 91, spokesperson says," 11 Sep. 2019 Party crashers Then, of course, there are the disruptors: the industry mavericks who enter the game, rewrite the rules, and enlighten travelers on what a hotel can do, be, and feel like. — Erin Florio, Condé Nast Traveler, "Why Hotels in the U.S. Are Better Than Ever," 23 Aug. 2019 Sonko, who has three children, can best be described as a maverick operator. — Farai Sevenzo And Kagweni Micheni, CNN, "He revealed a lawmaker's affair at his funeral. Now he's set up a hotline to out deadbeat politician dads," 19 Aug. 2019 The Republican maverick has championed low taxes, gun rights and now innovative responses to the homelessness crisis. — Josephine Peterson, The Seattle Times, "Pierce County Council’s Pam Roach won’t seek reelection," 12 Aug. 2019 The late congressman was considered a conservative maverick willing to vote against his party and GOP presidents, including Trump. — Fox News, "Murphy wins North Carolina GOP congressional primary runoff in boost for House Freedom Caucus," 10 July 2019 The admiral is a maverick, which can be cool… but also potentially problematic. — Ephrat Livni, Quartz, "Meet the intriguing presidential candidate you haven’t seen on the debate stage," 17 Aug. 2019 Today, Trump’s rallies echo with the same fervor that once characterized the appearances of segregationist George Wallace, who bedeviled the Democratic Party by running for president four times as a Southern maverick. — Curtis Wilkie, Washington Post, "A ‘grand bargain’ that secured the South for the GOP," 16 Aug. 2019 In an interview with USA TODAY around the time of the publication of his Churchill book, Johnson played down his similarities to Churchill: both started their careers as journalists, both have U.S. roots, writers both, political mavericks both. — Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, "Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson is like Trump. Only he isn't.," 23 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
In the early ’90s, Elizabeth Behrman, a physics professor at Wichita State University, began working to combine quantum physics with artificial intelligence — in particular, the then-maverick technology of neural networks. — Quanta Magazine, "Job One for Quantum Computers: Boost Artificial Intelligence," 29 Jan. 2018 Once Upon a Time cost $90 million to produce after tax incentives and rebates, making it the maverick filmmaker's most expensive film to date (that doesn't include marketing). — Pamela Mcclintock, Billboard, "Box Office: 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' Rides to $40M But Can't Catch 'Lion King's' $76M," 28 July 2019 Evans plays Ari Levinson, a maverick Mossad agent who obsessively does pull ups everywhere and storms into danger like an avenging angel. — Mark Kennedy, Detroit Free Press, "Netflix sinks to a low with 'Red Sea Diving Resort'," 1 Aug. 2019 One thousand years would pass before the city received a visit from a team of explorers led by a maverick Scotsman in the 1700s. — Rubén Montoya, National Geographic, "The Sahara buried this ancient Roman city—preserving it for centuries," 30 July 2019 Here's a look at the best XI to work with the maverick manager and his esteemed assistant Peter Taylor. — SI.com, "Brian Clough: The Maverick Manager's All-Time Best XI," 29 July 2019 There’s something inherently funny about having Sackhoff, who played the notorious maverick Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica, serving as the voice of caution and reason on board the Salvare. — Samantha Nelson, The Verge, "Netflix’s Another Life starts as Arrival, then turns into Star Trek," 23 July 2019 With Trump’s encouragement, Republican lawmakers repeatedly tried to repeal the law, ultimately failing in July 2017 when the late John McCain, the maverick senator from Arizona, made a thumbs-down gesture on the Senate floor. — Laurel Brubaker Calkins, BostonGlobe.com, "Obamacare court fight pits blue states against red ones — plus Trump," 9 July 2019 The former prisoner of war in Vietnam and maverick Republican proved less popular among Trump’s voters than many analysts realized when Trump attacked him in the last election. — Noah Bierman, Los Angeles Times, "Trump is eager to draw Democrats into fight over his racist tweets," 16 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'maverick.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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