lunatic fringe

American  

noun

1. members on the periphery of any group, especially political, social, or religious, who hold extreme or fanatical views.

---

lunatic fringe British  

noun

1. the members of a society or group who adopt or support views regarded as extreme or fanatical

---

lunatic fringe Cultural  

1. Derogatory name for the extreme radical members of a group, especially in politics: “The candidate referred to the organization as being on the lunatic fringe of conservatism.” The term was coined by Theodore Roosevelt.

---

Etymology

Origin of lunatic fringe

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lunatic fringe

All that can be dismissed as the ravings of the lunatic fringe, but it is being taken seriously in Jordan and Egypt.

From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2023

Now maybe all this is just the lunatic fringe acting out and nothing will come of it.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2021

Her staff, she added with a laugh, “took it as mail from the lunatic fringe and just tossed it.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2021

Unfortunately for the lunatic fringe, however, those events were just horse races:

From Slate ● Jun. 7, 2018

Roosevelt had, many years before, spoken of the "lunatic fringe" which clings to the skirts of every sincere reform.

From Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Lester Pearson