EIGHT BALLS Synonyms: 38 Similar and Opposite Words

eight balls

noun

plural of eight ball

as in free spirits

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for eight balls

Noun

Wrestling can attract lonely 20-somethings, misunderstood outsiders, and creative weirdos.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Aug. 2026
Language that sounds protective To outsiders, some of Russia’s actions can be difficult to recognize because they are often described in official language that sounds humanitarian or routine.

— Thom Reilly, The Conversation, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of outsiders

Noun

The Flagship kitchen is basically a fruits de mer frat house, where the kitchen workers, none rougher or funnier than Sal (Leo Woodall), are a bunch of misfits, snorting cocaine off one hand and slamming down plates of French fries with the other.

— Justin Chang, New Yorker, 7 Aug. 2026
This central plot thread is like a blueprint for the behind-the-scenes access to restaurant life in Bourdain’s bestselling first book, Kitchen Confidential — hazardous, intense, messy and a magnet for misfits.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 29 July 2026

Definition of misfits

Noun

Carl Anka Trent Alexander-Arnold’s England career is a fascinating case study in why team sports can prefer the orthodox to the mavericks.

— The Athletic UK Staff, New York Times, 13 May 2026
The confluence at Black Mountain of émigré artists like Josef and Anni Albers with homegrown mavericks like John Cage and Buckminster Fuller (who constructed his first geodesic dome there) marked an early flowering of this mode of learning, which was still in fine health decades later.

— Christopher Benfey, The New York Review of Books, 19 Apr. 2026

Definition of mavericks

Noun

The forty-niners are elemental to our identity as a nation of brave, rugged individualists.

— Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
Based on actual events, Eden features a starry cast playing a disparate group of rugged individualists who all find themselves in the Galapagos in the early 20th century, each abandoning society in the hopes of creating a utopia.

— Will Leitch, Vulture, 22 Aug. 2025

Definition of individualists

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

eight ball

eight balls

eighty-six

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Eight balls.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/eight%20balls. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of eight balls

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

vacuous

Popular in Grammar & Usage

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

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?

Popular in Wordplay

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Words of the Week - Aug. 14

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes