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lunatic fringe

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

Origin of lunatic fringe

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for lunatic fringe

nuts, energumen
British Dictionary definitions for lunatic fringe

lunatic fringe

noun
  1. the members of a society or group who adopt or support views regarded as extreme or fanatical
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
lunatic fringe in Culture

lunatic fringe

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.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.