maverick

[mav-er-ik, mav-rik]

noun

1. Southwestern U.S.,  an unbranded calf, cow, or steer, especially an unbranded calf that is separated from its mother.

2. 1. a lone dissenter, such as an intellectual, an artist, or a politician, who takes an independent stand apart from their peers.

      His unusual techniques made him a maverick of modern dance.

   2. a person pursuing rebellious, even potentially disruptive, policies or ideas.

      You can't muzzle a maverick.

3. Maverick, an electro-optically guided U.S. air-to-ground tactical missile for destroying tanks and other hardened targets at ranges up to 15 miles (24 km).

adjective

1. unorthodox, unconventional, or nonconformist.

   She had a reputation as a maverick fiscal conservative willing to raise taxes.

maverick

/ ˈmævərɪk /

noun

1. (in US and Canadian cattle-raising regions) an unbranded animal, esp a stray calf

2. 1. a person of independent or unorthodox views

   2. ( as modifier )

      a maverick politician

Word History and Origins

Origin of maverick¹

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70; named after Samuel A. Maverick (1803–70), Texas pioneer who left his calves unbranded

Word History and Origins

Origin of maverick¹

C19: after Samuel A. Maverick (1803–70), Texas rancher, who did not brand his cattle

Example Sentences

On his 21st birthday, in 1932, he came into a sizable inheritance that allowed him to live where he wanted and indulge his maverick aesthetic proclivities.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, while not a liberal firebrand, is not your typical political maverick.

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Farrells, the architecture practice he founded, announced his death "with deep sadness", saying: "Terry was frequently called a maverick, radical and a non-conformist which he relished."

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Lepore’s astute in her discussion of maverick Columbia professor Charles Austin Beard, whose “An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution,” published in 1913, sparked controversy.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The forward is one of the last few players you could describe as being a maverick.

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