nonconformist

noun

non·con·form·ist | \ ˌnän-kən-ˈfȯr-mist

Definition of nonconformist

1 often capitalized : a person who does not conform to an established church especially : one who does not conform to the Church of England

2 : a person who does not conform to a generally accepted pattern of thought or action

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Examples of nonconformist in a Sentence

He was a nonconformist in college but now wears a three-piece suit to work every day. They were stubborn nonconformists who chose to be arrested instead of obeying the laws.

Recent Examples on the Web For that matter, why put non-binary people or gender nonconformists on the spot when each aspect of human identity — race, ability, sexuality, happiness, health — exists on a spectrum? — Karla L. Miller, Washington Post, "When gender-neutral pronouns make for heated conversation," 27 Feb. 2020 Based on Jerry Spinelli’s young adult novel, the movie follows a teenage nonconformist with a ukulele in tow who arrives at a high school in small-town Arizona. — Kathryn Shattuck, New York Times, "Grace VanderWaal Doesn’t Want to Exist Without ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’," 17 Mar. 2020 But repression of public dissent remains fierce and widespread, with state security agents harassing nonconformists ranging from independent journalists to ordinary citizens who complain about public services. — Washington Post, "Cuba grants unprecedented access to presidential tour," 15 Nov. 2019 The franchise, which is known for player evaluation, has had its share of nonconformists and must have every expectation that Brown can dial back his temperament and need for attention. — Sally Jenkins, courant.com, "Jenkins: Don’t blame Antonio Brown for putting himself first. No one else was going to.," 10 Sep. 2019 Conversely, favoring one style or group can unfairly exclude nonconformists from the historical picture. — Richard B. Woodward, WSJ, "‘This Land’ Review: Picturing America," 4 Sep. 2018 As nonconformists and dissenters drop out of the conversation, the deliberation becomes more circular and more extreme. — Noah Rothman, National Review, "Kevin Williamson’s Revolt against the Hivemind," 25 July 2019 For the rest of her life, Lock remained active among the English nonconformists, who later became known as Puritans. — Jamie Quatro, The New Yorker, "The Hidden Life of a Forgotten Sixteenth-Century Female Poet," 5 Aug. 2019 Indeed, looting museums was one of the charges that the authorities leveled against Parajanov, a nonconformist who was persecuted and imprisoned on suspicions of homosexuality and became a cause célèbre among Western cinephiles. — New York Times, "In ‘The Color of Pomegranates,’ the Cinema of the Cryptic," 24 May 2018

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