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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Recent Examples of freethinker
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
But get this: the freethinkers who dreamed up this potential flood tide work not out of Honda's Japanese R&D center and studio but its American think tank and design enclave in Southern California.
—Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 15 June 2023
See All Example Sentences for freethinker
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
But get this: the freethinkers who dreamed up this potential flood tide work not out of Honda's Japanese R&D center and studio but its American think tank and design enclave in Southern California.
—Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 15 June 2023
See All Example Sentences for freethinker
Recent Examples of Synonyms for freethinker
Noun
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This is not a game; until the kooks and zealots rampaging over the public health infrastructure are constrained, many people could die.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
9 July 2025
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Listen to your doctor, not kooks like Bobby Kennedy and Dave Weldon.—
New York Daily News,
Twin Cities,
21 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old weirdo who somehow managed to crawl onto that roof and get a clean line of sight to the biggest target in the world, left virtually no trace.—
Carlo Versano,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 July 2025
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Hoult has leading-man-handsome qualities, but he’s spent most of his career playing weirdos (The Order, Mad Max: Fury Road) and losers (The Menu, Juror #2) or some combination of the two (Superman).—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
3 July 2025
Noun
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Dawn rambles on, issuing crackpot theories in the background.—
Madison Bloom,
Pitchfork,
17 July 2025
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Arson, which blends conspiracy, conflagration, and the surrender of control, has a unique tendency to elicit crackpot theories.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
16 July 2025
Noun
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What choice would a young reactionary iconoclast have but to veer right?—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 July 2025
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With no knock on a standard-issue C8 Corvette, the ZR1 is a serious target for collectors, including iconoclasts who prefer to zig where others zag.—
Lawrence Ulrich,
Robb Report,
25 June 2025
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
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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What is a totalitarian leader other than an individualist taking that creed to its cruel conclusions, erasing the uniqueness of every other person into mere characters in a drama?—
Ed Simon
June 23,
Literary Hub,
23 June 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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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
Cite this Entry
“Freethinker.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/freethinker. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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