gadfly

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A gadfly candidate for mayor of Chicago, Lar Daly, secured a quirky FCC ruling.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 8, 2026

The publication was founded in 1955 by the legendary gadfly William F. Buckley Jr. as a salon for the various right-leaning fraternities in American life: fire-eating libertarians, orthodox Catholics, conspiratorial anti-communists.

From Slate • Apr. 25, 2025

For decades, he also relished his role as a brutally insulting critic — sometimes of the bands he worked with — and a gadfly who pushed uncomfortable buttons about race, politics and sex.

From New York Times • May 14, 2024

From Navalny’s early days as a blogger, he rose from being a relatively little-known gadfly — a lawyer who doggedly documented corruption in high places — to the country’s best-known opposition figure.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2024

I had moved from the role of a gadfly within the organization to one of the powers that I had been rebelling against.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela