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gadfly

[gad-flahy] / ˈgædˌflaɪ /


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.

See Examples For:

Fleming, meanwhile, hasn’t had much to spend, and has always been somewhat of a gadfly going back to his years in the House of Representatives.

From Slate ● May 16, 2026

“LLMs themselves are more or less just as unreliable as they were ever,” says AI researcher and gadfly Gary Marcus.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

You know that gadfly Lady Whistledown’s voice is none other than that of Dame Julie Andrews.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2024

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

Concluding that economics, not politics, held the key to black success in America, Moore started a new career as a corporate gadfly, disrupting stockholders' meetings with pointed questions about racial policies and hiring practices.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

As is quite common for these kinds of third-party gadflies, Oliver has made a career out of running unsuccessfully in multiple federal elections.

From Slate ● Mar. 12, 2024

Most of the seats during the Anaheim council meeting I attended did end up getting filled — but it was the usual assortment of lobbyists, gadflies, local activists, and happy, mysterious men in sharp suits.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2022

Those are just a few of the celebrity gadflies, sycophants, grifters and weirdos he is backing.

From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2022

He identified six tactics, the first five being “doubt the science,” “question scientists’ motives and integrity,” “magnify disagreements among scientists and cite gadflies as authorities,” “exaggerate potential harm” and “appeal to personal freedom.”

From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2021

The species, therefore, anxiously seek out the herds of oxen, of buffaloes, of antelopes—of all the quadrupeds, in short, upon which these gadflies deposit their eggs.

From The Young Yagers A Narrative of Hunting Adventures in Southern Africa by Mayne Reid




Vocabulary lists containing gadfly


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