as in dissident
deviating from commonly accepted beliefs or practices
a cattle-ranching family that took some time in getting used to their daughter's nonconformist adoption of vegetarianism
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in maverick
a person who does not conform to generally accepted standards or customs
always the nonconformist, she insisted on wearing red on St. Patrick's Day and not green like everyone else
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dissenter
a person who believes, teaches, or advocates something opposed to accepted beliefs
a nonconformist who was excommunicated from her church for her teachings
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nonconformist
Charlie Tyson, The Atlantic, 18 Oct. 2022
Ye, however, was widely known to be both a perfectionist and a nonconformist.
—New York Times, 25 July 2022
Fedoras, trilbys and Panamas seem to proclaim the wearer as either an extravagant nonconformist or an anti-feminist reactionary.
—New York Times, 15 July 2022
The Return of Tanya Tucker is a fittingly unconventional portrait of a nonconformist.
—Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Mar. 2022
See All Example Sentences for nonconformist
Noun
In her breakthrough piece, Heretic, Graham is dressed in white and rebuffed and rebuked by a group of 12 women dressed in black: the punishment of the nonconformist.
—Charlie Tyson, The Atlantic, 18 Oct. 2022
Ye, however, was widely known to be both a perfectionist and a nonconformist.
—New York Times, 25 July 2022
Fedoras, trilbys and Panamas seem to proclaim the wearer as either an extravagant nonconformist or an anti-feminist reactionary.
—New York Times, 15 July 2022
The Return of Tanya Tucker is a fittingly unconventional portrait of a nonconformist.
—Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Mar. 2022
See All Example Sentences for nonconformist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nonconformist
Adjective
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Pro-America conservatives should take a great deal of ‘dissident’ content with a few caviar spoons of salt, so to speak.—
Wilfred Reilly,
National Review,
9 July 2025
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Other contenders abroad include the dissident group Mujahedeen e-Khalq, more commonly known as the MEK, which has gained high-profile supporters including the former New York mayor and Trump ally Rudy Giuliani.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
25 June 2025
Noun
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Ballard is a maverick who’s been demoted to assembling a volunteer team, literally in the basement, to review cold case files.—
Stephen Schaefer,
Boston Herald,
6 July 2025
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Car chases were as reliable a trope as the maverick officer with his own moral code mouthing off to superiors, or the battle-scarred veteran who’s seen it all and just wants to eat donuts and make it to retirement.—
Maris Kreizman,
Rolling Stone,
24 June 2025
Noun
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King’s Chapel was established in 1683 as the first Anglican church in New England, which was settled starting in 1620 by dissenters who wanted a theocracy and religion shorn of folderol, cant, and the stink of popes and kings.—
Brian T. Allen,
National Review,
19 July 2025
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Trump, meanwhile, is urging his party to fall in line and lashing out at dissenters such as Tillis and Rep. Thomas Massie, who voted against the legislation in the House.—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
2 July 2025
Adjective
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Often unconventional, like their Vantablack dials, Moser brings something fresh to the Canadian market, and its new POP collection amplifies this creative edge even further.—
Matthew Catellier,
Forbes.com,
23 July 2025
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President Donald Trump has long flexed the power of the White House to insert himself into unconventional areas ‒ from the type of sugar in Coca-Cola to renaming the Gulf of Mexico.—
Joey Garrison,
USA Today,
23 July 2025
Noun
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And, of course, my fantasy went right to some kind of renegade character along the lines of Saw Gerrera.—
Dalton Ross,
EW.com,
16 May 2025
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The director Doris Wishman was a renegade: a woman who made lurid exploitation films at a time when American underground cinema was a man’s playground.—
Erik Piepenburg,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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In the dissenting view, the star collapses to the edge of the event horizon and then hovers there, or rebounds and explodes.—
Corey S. Powell,
Discover Magazine,
26 Feb. 2015
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The document runs to more than a hundred and fifty pages, and for each question there are affirmative and dissenting studies, as well as some that indicate mixed results.—
The New Yorker,
The New Yorker,
3 June 2022
Noun
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Ra’s decades-long adherence to this personal mythology, along with his air of serene bemusement and his extravagant robes and headdresses, led to his popular image as a colorful eccentric.—
Ekow Eshun
July 11,
Literary Hub,
11 July 2025
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Other characters include outcasts, visionaries and eccentrics — all of whom live on the margins as unseen — a former priest, a girl trapped in working her family’s candy stand, a woman who learned preaching from her brother and is a caretaker for her dying housemate.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
18 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nonconformist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nonconformist. Accessed 1 Aug. 2025.
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