lunatic fringe

American  

noun

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

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lunatic fringe British  

noun

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

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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.

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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

We hear views on television today that are on the lunatic fringe frankly.

From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2018

Some of our "lunatic fringe" of reformers have been heard to palliate the Huns' atrocities in Belgium, by the plea: "Ah, but they were so perfectly sincere!"

From Theodore Roosevelt; an Intimate Biography by Thayer, William Roscoe