eight ball

noun

Definition of eight ballnext
as in free spirit

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for eight ball
  1. free spirit
  2. lone ranger
  3. lone wolf
  4. outsider
  5. enfant terrible
  6. misfit
  7. individualist
  8. maverick
Noun
  • Expertly interpreted by Jacobson, Tangles is Sarah’s story, a free spirit still held back due to her responsibility as a loving daughter.
    — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 23 June 2026
  • Baez’s sister described her brother as a free spirit who wandered up and down the East Coast, from Florida to his home state of Massachusetts, where his two children live with their mother.
    — Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 3 June 2026
Definition of free spirit
Noun
  • The desperate situation usually has an alternative, if only the lone ranger would tolerate his own vulnerability and fallibility.
    — Jordan Kisner, The Atlantic, 19 Apr. 2021
  • Kaneland pitcher Emilee Erickson, wearing a protective face mask in Friday’s Class 3A state semifinal, was no lone ranger.
    — Rick Armstrong, Aurora Beacon-News, 9 June 2018
Definition of lone ranger
Noun
  • In that episode, lone wolf Gibbs got a new special friend, an adorable dog.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 1 July 2026
  • Unlike solitary hunters such as leopards or tigers, wolves pursue prey that often outweighs them considerably, which means a lone wolf is, in practical terms, an ineffective one.
    — Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026
Definition of lone wolf
Noun
  • The outsider artist—which really does feel like the best way to describe her work as composer, book writer, and star—is Jennifer Nettles, half of the country-music band Sugarland, who has also pursued a career as an actor.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 11 July 2026
  • Courting progressives Holscher has styled herself as a populist outsider and a foil to Kelly.
    — Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 10 July 2026
Definition of outsider
Noun
  • At Balenciaga, where Pierpaolo Piccioli made his debut with bubble silhouettes that reference an iconic dress by the house founder and chez Jean Paul Gaultier, Duran Lantink had the last laugh—as an enfant terrible is wont to do.
    — Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 10 July 2026
  • At the heart of the documentary are the contrasting journeys of former enfant terrible of UK cuisine Marco Pierre White, and the young team behind rising Italian Japanese fusion restaurant Angelina in London’s hipster Dalston neighborhood.
    — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 4 June 2026
Definition of enfant terrible
Noun
  • Lind and Little posed for this behind-the-scenes photo with Berto Colon, who plays Oreana's bodyguard, and Ray McKinnon, who stars as rancher and social misfit Dwight White.
    — Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026
  • By building a community of misfits, making value plays on underappreciated veterans, and by finding players who prefer the exhale of a prairie sky to the bustle of a big city.
    — Murat Ates, New York Times, 26 June 2026
Definition of misfit
Noun
  • Once Into the Wild hit shelves, McCandless' individualist intrigue became a phenomenon that may never have happened if Krakauer hadn't brought the story to the masses.
    — Chris Barilla, PEOPLE, 8 May 2026
  • The forty-niners are elemental to our identity as a nation of brave, rugged individualists.
    — Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
Definition of individualist
Noun
  • This love, combined with egalitarian ideals, has made Hill a bit of a late-blooming maverick.
    — Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 1 July 2026
  • His maverick persona and armored storm-chasing vehicle, the Dominator 3 — featured on Jay Leno’s Garage — directly inspired the character of Tyler Owens, played by Glen Powell in the 2024 summer blockbuster Twisters.
    — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 23 June 2026
Definition of maverick
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

eidolons
eight ball
eight balls
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Eight ball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/eight%20ball. Accessed 16 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on eight ball

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about eight ball

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of bibelot

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All