as in nuisances
one who is obnoxiously annoying
the journalist was known as a gadfly for exposing hypocrisy in politics
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Recent Examples of gadflies
Renewable energy advocates treat activists like Gilbert as relentless gadflies who need to be stopped for the good of the planet.
—
Tony Schick, ProPublica, 14 Aug. 2025
Doubling as an account of modern American conservatism (from media gadflies to six Supreme Court justices), the film is punctuated with contemporaneous footage that, viewed through the lens of Olin’s misdeeds, generates the tension and shock of a genre film.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 7 Aug. 2025
Tony Schick, ProPublica, 14 Aug. 2025
Doubling as an account of modern American conservatism (from media gadflies to six Supreme Court justices), the film is punctuated with contemporaneous footage that, viewed through the lens of Olin’s misdeeds, generates the tension and shock of a genre film.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 7 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gadflies
Noun
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An Orange County judge granted the city of Santa Ana’s request for a preliminary injunction against several businesses on East First Street accused of being public nuisances.—
Mona Darwish,
Oc Register,
8 Nov. 2025
-
The surfers, initially viewed by some as welcome curiosities and by others as nuisances, became harbingers of economic salvation through tourism, now the dominant industry, though still a relatively new one.—
David Amsden,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The process of pruning involves removing dead, diseased, damaged, or crossing branches that can attract pests and be an entryway for diseases.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
7 Nov. 2025
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Each branch employs technicians who understand the pests most common in their region, scorpions in the Southwest, ticks in the Midwest, or termites in the Southeast.—
Connie Etemadi,
USA Today,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Carry a pack of tissues everywhere in case they are needed because the slightest comments or annoyances could set us off at these times.—
Lisa Stardust,
Refinery29,
7 Nov. 2025
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But that conspiracy tends to manifest in the form of universal contemporary annoyances.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gadflies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gadflies. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
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