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What is another word for gadfly?

Pronunciation: [ɡˈadfla͡ɪ] (IPA)

Gadfly, a term originally coined by Plato to describe Socrates, refers to someone who persistently and annoyingly urges others, especially those in positions of power, to take action or to consider a particular issue. Synonyms include provocateur, instigator, annoyance, irritant, pest, nuisance, troublemaker, meddler, agitator, and rabble-rouser. The word gadfly is often used in political contexts to describe someone who challenges the status quo and holds those in power accountable. However, the term may also be used to describe individuals who are simply irritating or disruptive. Despite its negative connotations, gadflies play a critical role in advocating for change and holding those in power accountable.
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Synonyms for Gadfly:

What are the hypernyms for Gadfly?

A hypernym is a word with a broad meaning that encompasses more specific words called hyponyms.

What are the hyponyms for Gadfly?

Hyponyms are more specific words categorized under a broader term, known as a hypernym.

  • hyponyms for gadfly (as nouns)

What are the opposite words for gadfly?

A gadfly is someone who persistently annoys or criticizes others, often to the point of infuriating them. The word 'gadfly' may conjure up images of an irritant, but there are antonyms that embody qualities of a calming and soothing nature. The antonyms of 'gadfly' can be words like diplomat, pacifier, conciliator, peacemaker, and mediator. These words describe individuals who possess characteristics such as diplomacy, empathy, tact, and an ability to compromise. By using these traits, these antonyms work to smooth out conflicts and to ease tensions, ensuring that everyone is heard and that a solution is found that satisfies all parties involved.

What are the antonyms for Gadfly?

Usage examples for Gadfly

Some gadfly must have stung the man.
"Major Vigoureux"
A. T. Quiller-Couch
Neither a fool, as most believed, nor of originating imagination, as a few credited who witnessed from the inside the shrewd and infallible success of his colossal schemes, Sassoon at bottom was a prey to an obsession that stung him like a gadfly to restless seeking, eternally tormented by the fever of the hunter, eternally disillusioned.
"The Salamander"
Owen Johnson
St. L. Or they might prove, after all, like the gadfly in the fable.
"The Bride of Fort Edward"
Delia Bacon

Famous quotes with Gadfly

  • I am a kamikaze gadfly.
    Mo Rocca
  • Russell's is undeniably one of the great minds of our time. It has always been impelled by a passionate and relentless curiosity and a hatred of cruelty and injustice. An aristocratic gadfly, he has never for any reason hesitated to speak out on any issue that engaged him. Although born in the Victorian era... he seems more like an 18th Century figure from the Age of Reason like Voltaire, whom he strikingly resembles both in physiognomy and spirit. Philosophy is an abstruse subject, which Russell once defined as an unusually ingenious attempt to think fallaciously; the fame of philosophers seldom spreads beyond the confines of university campuses. But Russell's has, because for the last 40 years he has striven to think about complex current issues – politics, history, ethics, economics – and to convey his thoughts to those who longed for insight in language they could understand. And whatever Bertrand Russell has done, wherever he has gone there has usually been laughter.
    Bertrand Russell
  • And they tried to rag me in the smoking room about not being able to hit a bird at five yards, a sort of bovine ragging that suggested cows buzzing round a gadfly and thinking they were teasing it. So I got up the next morning at early dawn – I know it was dawn, because there were lark-noises in the sky, and the grass looked as if it had been left out all night.
    Saki
  • I'm lucky that SFWA has such a short memory. I was always the Young Turk, the gadfly. Part of the New Wave, although I didn't fit in there either! I spent years, and two histories, putting the so-called Old Guard in their place, and now I'm one of them!
    Brian Aldiss

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