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
Some were fleeing San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake, while others just wanted to commune with like-minded freethinkers.
—
Lizbeth Scordo, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Nov. 2024
By this time, however, even in cases where freethinkers were convicted of blasphemy, judges appeared to offer leniency.
—Kristina M. Lee, The Conversation, 18 Oct. 2024
The boys, including brilliant freethinker Melchior (Marshall) and his deaf friend Moritz (Joseph Saraceni), suffer through rote Latin learning with little room for creative thought.
—Jim Higgins, Journal Sentinel, 2 Mar. 2024
As a freethinker who had run afoul of both Judaism and Christianity, Spinoza knew that bigotry and fanaticism weren’t just imposed on the people; they were also imposed by the people.
—Adam Kirsch, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024
See All Example Sentences for freethinker
Lizbeth Scordo, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Nov. 2024
By this time, however, even in cases where freethinkers were convicted of blasphemy, judges appeared to offer leniency.
—Kristina M. Lee, The Conversation, 18 Oct. 2024
The boys, including brilliant freethinker Melchior (Marshall) and his deaf friend Moritz (Joseph Saraceni), suffer through rote Latin learning with little room for creative thought.
—Jim Higgins, Journal Sentinel, 2 Mar. 2024
As a freethinker who had run afoul of both Judaism and Christianity, Spinoza knew that bigotry and fanaticism weren’t just imposed on the people; they were also imposed by the people.
—Adam Kirsch, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024
See All Example Sentences for freethinker
Recent Examples of Synonyms for freethinker
Noun
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Not the crazy aunt/spell-casting kook who’s going to be film fans’ top Halloween costume this year.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
9 Aug. 2025
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Aster is no longer offering a twist on things that really took place but on fantasies that occurred only in the imaginations of right-wing kooks.—
Nate Jones,
Vulture,
18 July 2025
Noun
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For all you macabre-loving weirdos, HorrorHound Weekend is a great opportunity to meet other fans and industry professionals, participate in costume contests, get an autograph from a celebrity slasher and more.—
Haadiza Ogwude,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
10 Sep. 2025
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Fresh weirdos appear each year to replenish the pool of suspects and victims.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
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At the time, de Grey was viewed as a brilliant crackpot.—
Tad Friend,
New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2025
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Dawn rambles on, issuing crackpot theories in the background.—
Madison Bloom,
Pitchfork,
17 July 2025
Noun
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But this documentary shows us Novak as the fiercely independent iconoclast who left Hollywood on her own terms.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
25 Aug. 2025
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Even the possibility of Stern going away is a signal of how things have changed for the iconoclast.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
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For Mimi Pond, the desire to do a book about the Mitford sisters – six larger-than-life British eccentrics (and one brother) who created a stir in both British and American culture – was obvious.—
Erik Pedersen,
Oc Register,
5 Sep. 2025
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For decades, sovereign citizens largely flew under the radar in Australia as relatively harmless eccentrics with a special interest in conspiracy theories.—
Hilary Whiteman,
CNN Money,
29 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Indeed, exercise is for everyone, from toddlers to codgers.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
23 May 2025
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For older codgers like me who prefer golf clubs to nightclubs, a serene and charming alternative is the city of La Quinta, best known for its incomparable golf courses at PGA West and the historic La Quinta Resort & Club, another redolent whiff of Hollywood’s glorious days gone by.—
David Weiss,
Forbes.com,
8 Apr. 2025
Noun
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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
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Although Americans are individualists, we’re still expected to go home for the holidays and to cite our parents as our greatest sources of inspiration.—
Anesce Dremen,
Longreads,
3 July 2025
Noun
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One is Shinjiro Koizumi, the 44-year-old son of maverick former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who led the country from 2001 to 2006.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
8 Sep. 2025
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In the early 70s, the British maverick had already made a name for himself with Deliverance, which was the kind of artsy genre flick championed by a New Hollywood whose directors owed more to the European arthouse than to classic studio fare.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Freethinker.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/freethinker. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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