freethinkers

noun

plural of freethinker
as in weirdos
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

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.
Recent Examples of freethinkers By the early 1990s, Eugene had earned itself a reputation as a beacon of progressive-minded irreverence, drawing a pungent mix of weirdos, iconoclasts, and freethinkers. — Literary Hub, 10 July 2026 These, um, freethinkers were unintentionally encouraged by the airport’s art. — Charlie Sosnick, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Dec. 2025 My mom, like many freethinkers of her generation, butted heads against anything that reinforced the status quo, and let us children grow like wild weeds into our own individuals. — Morgan Lockhart, PEOPLE, 29 Nov. 2025 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for freethinkers
  1. weirdos
  2. kooks
  3. eccentrics
  4. crackpots
  5. oddballs
  6. individualists
  7. iconoclasts
  8. nuts
Noun
  • Wrestling can attract lonely 20-somethings, misunderstood outsiders, and creative weirdos.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Aug. 2026
  • James Gunn’s third and final Marvel movie is the rare finale to actually feel like a finale, an ambitious trilogy-ender that says goodbye to the galaxy’s favorite space weirdos.
    — EW Staff, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of weirdos
Noun
  • O’Hara worked consistently across her 50-year career in both film and television, best known for playing beloved kooks and amiable wackos, though her range was boundless.
    — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 30 Jan. 2026
  • What so many of these talking heads have in common—legitimate experts, well-meaning journalists, and kooks alike—is how costly their recommendations are.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 3 Jan. 2026
Definition of kooks
Noun
  • Dippold has populated the show with lovable eccentrics played by great character actors—Dale Dickey, Jeff Hiller, Tim Baltz.
    — Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 18 June 2026
  • Inbred eccentrics and bumbling detectives have populated the seaside villages of Bruno Dumont’s absurdist comedies.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 16 June 2026
Definition of eccentrics
Noun
  • Get the angst out of the games, and the crackpots will move on to some other fashionable cause.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 26 July 2026
  • Artists have always used music to question authority and expose the cracks (and the crackpots) in the American story.
    — Time, Time, 6 May 2026
Definition of crackpots
Noun
  • The Ramones stood on stage not as rock gods or unattainable heroes, but as oddballs, misfits, and fellow outcasts in torn jeans.
    — Debby Wolfinsohn, Entertainment Weekly, 7 July 2026
  • The Wylkes Society’s members include many of the amiable oddballs Miles has met around town.
    — Heller McAlpin, Christian Science Monitor, 7 July 2026
Definition of oddballs
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
Noun
  • Primus’ Bay Area cult following snowballed into a deal with Virgin offshoot Caroline Records for their studio debut, 1990’s Frizzle Fry, which established Primus as irresistible genre iconoclasts.
    — Sasha Geffen, Pitchfork, 2 Aug. 2026
  • By the early 1990s, Eugene had earned itself a reputation as a beacon of progressive-minded irreverence, drawing a pungent mix of weirdos, iconoclasts, and freethinkers.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 July 2026
Definition of iconoclasts
Noun
  • Some bars with nuts and seeds offer better balance, but many lean more toward dessert than a truly nourishing snack.
    — Lynn Andriani, Martha Stewart, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Fats are found in foods like butter, oils, nuts, meat, and fish.
    — Jillian Kubala, HEALTH, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of nuts

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Cite this Entry

“Freethinkers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/freethinkers. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

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