maverick
Southwestern U.S. an unbranded calf, cow, or steer, especially an unbranded calf that is separated from its mother.
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.
a person pursuing rebellious, even potentially disruptive, policies or ideas: You can't muzzle a maverick.
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).
unorthodox, unconventional, or nonconformist: She had a reputation as a maverick fiscal conservative willing to raise taxes.
Origin of maverick
1word story For maverick
popular references For maverick
—Dallas Mavericks: American professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas, a member of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
— Maverick : popular American TV series (1957–62) set in the Wild West that inspired a film of the same name (1994).
—Maverick: Nickname and call sign of ace fighter pilot, played by Tom Cruise, in the film Top Gun (1986).
—Ford Maverick: Stylish, youthfully designed mid-size car made in the late 1960s and ‘70s in North America and Brazil.
Other words for maverick
2a | nonconformist, individualist; free thinker; loner, lone wolf |
2b | rebel, cowboy; loose cannon |
Words Nearby maverick
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use maverick in a sentence
The publication—establishing the evidence of what is called adult neurogenesis—gave him a reputation as a maverick who wasn’t afraid to stand behind provocative ideas.
The quest to learn if our brain’s mutations affect mental health | Roxanne Khamsi | August 25, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewWe knew the 93rd Academy Awards telecast was going to be different even before the maverick filmmaker Steven Soderbergh signed on to produce it.
The Pandemic Oscars Were Surprisingly Decent. But Will the Academy Learn Anything From Its Break With Tradition? | Judy Berman | April 26, 2021 | TimeYou get the feeling of the end of Groucho Marx or Salvador Dali here – a maverick in winter, surrounded by con men selling him off for parts.
‘True Believer’ tries to capture Stan Lee. It isn’t easy. | Glen David Gold | February 18, 2021 | Washington PostYou can find more about the latest episode, featuring Binance’s maverick CEO CZ, below.
That might be difficult to conceive at first — Goldwater, “maverick” McCain, and the latter-day celebrity of Sheriff Joe Arpaio have solidified the state as the conservative cowboy of American pop culture.
Arizona Is The Democrats’ Purple Splotch In The Sunbelt | Clare Malone (clare.malone@fivethirtyeight.com) | September 24, 2020 | FiveThirtyEight
To be bold, to be a maverick, to stretch beyond established limits, is the stuff of inspiration.
Williams scored his first Oscar nomination playing maverick U.S. Armed Services DJ Adrian Cronauer in Good Morning, Vietnam.
Robin Williams's Greatest Moments on Stage and Screen (Video) | The Daily Beast Video | August 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThen, one day, a maverick doctor gave him a miracle too fantastic to believe.
Instead, the former five-term congressman said, “They just look at me as a maverick curmudgeon.”
Instead, Pressler is already figuring out ways that he can leverage his power as a maverick senator.
Larry Pressler Shoots for a Maverick Senate Comeback | Ben Jacobs | January 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThats two of them, old maverick, called Stone, breathing on his smarting right hand.
The New Boys at Oakdale | Morgan ScottIt was the rule of the cattlemen that a "maverick" belonged to the ranchman on whose range it was found.
Roosevelt in the Bad Lands | H. Hagedorn.They say—they think I ought to get married—to maverick or somebody.
The Cup of Trembling and Other Stories | Mary Hallock Footemaverick, I saw it all, and I can swear it was self-defense.
The Cup of Trembling and Other Stories | Mary Hallock Footemaverick covered her with his coat after she was no longer conscious.
The Cup of Trembling and Other Stories | Mary Hallock Foote
British Dictionary definitions for maverick
/ (ˈmævərɪk) /
(in US and Canadian cattle-raising regions) an unbranded animal, esp a stray calf
a person of independent or unorthodox views
(as modifier): a maverick politician
Origin of maverick
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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