as in kook
a person who forms his or her own opinions about important subjects (such as religion and politics) instead of accepting what other people say
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of freethinker
This is the language of a company man, not a freethinker.
—
Andrea Long Chu, Vulture, 5 Aug. 2025
Known as an intellectual society, the freethinkers advocated for equal rights, the abolition of slavery, and rejected secession.
—Amanda Ogle, Travel + Leisure, 26 Apr. 2025
Rasoulof has become very good at identifying fellow freethinkers.
—Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2024
Doctors volunteered, but so did nurses, store owners, actors, academics, factory workers and freethinkers – even prisoners about to be executed.
—Susan E. Lederer, The Conversation, 10 Mar. 2023
See All Example Sentences for freethinker
Andrea Long Chu, Vulture, 5 Aug. 2025
Known as an intellectual society, the freethinkers advocated for equal rights, the abolition of slavery, and rejected secession.
—Amanda Ogle, Travel + Leisure, 26 Apr. 2025
Rasoulof has become very good at identifying fellow freethinkers.
—Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2024
Doctors volunteered, but so did nurses, store owners, actors, academics, factory workers and freethinkers – even prisoners about to be executed.
—Susan E. Lederer, The Conversation, 10 Mar. 2023
See All Example Sentences for freethinker
Recent Examples of Synonyms for freethinker
Noun
-
After Kent’s resignation, Republican hawks denounced him as a kook and a traitor to the cause, without touching on the delicate question of why Trump appointed such a disreputable figure in the first place.—
Jonathan Chait,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
-
Even Kathy Hilton is like a ghost of her former self, with Jen Tilly taking the crown of doddering kook away from her.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Arden isn’t afraid to let weirdos be weirdos in a musical that has a healthy suspicion of surface perfection.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
-
André 3000, largely thanks to experiments in dress, is often considered the weirdo wild card, and Big Boi the straight man.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Artists have always used music to question authority and expose the cracks (and the crackpots) in the American story.—
Time,
Time,
6 May 2026
-
In one corner, the heartless girlboss; in the other, the crackpot conspiracy theorist (who just happens to be more sympathetic and charismatic than such types usually are).—
Nate Jones,
Vulture,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Tempo’s ascendence and corporate partnerships are indicative of a larger trend where well-heeled, corporate firms—from Robinhood to Stripe—are making their way into blockchain, traditionally the territory of anti-establishmentarians and iconoclasts.—
Jack Kubinec,
Fortune,
21 Apr. 2026
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On the top floor of a Brooklyn brownstone, the AD100 iconoclast has realized an immersive feat of contemporary design—and by hand no less.—
Sam Cochran,
Architectural Digest,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
But what the New Yorker writer left behind is some of the finest prose of the 20th century, focusing primarily on the eccentrics, scalawags, seamen, and other denizens of New York’s dank corners.—
Air Mail,
Air Mail,
2 May 2026
-
The town’s overflowing with charming Midwest eccentrics, including a cocky mayor (Henry Winkler) and a welcoming barkeep (Lena Headey).—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
But what was served up were stale, pale sketches that seemed to have been exhumed from some old codger’s book of gags from 19 bloody 50!—
Baz Bamigboye,
Deadline,
21 Mar. 2026
-
My job was to conceptualize and oversee a luncheon for fifty of these luminaries—with the help of a woozy codger standing in front of me.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The forty-niners are elemental to our identity as a nation of brave, rugged individualists.—
Jennifer Wilson,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
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The time was ripe for the individualist, the pioneer, on the inventive front of industry.—
Alex Knapp,
Forbes.com,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Ted Turner, the maverick businessman and philanthropist who turned a financially struggling Atlanta TV station into a media empire around CNN, the first 24-hour cable news station, has died.—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
7 May 2026
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Besides more on maverick Turner’s death, talking about that transaction was kind of the point today of anyone really listening to the soon-to-exiting WBD execs.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
6 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Freethinker.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/freethinker. Accessed 14 May. 2026.
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