as in kook
a person who forms his or her own opinions about important subjects (such as religion and politics) instead of accepting what other people say
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Recent Examples of freethinker
As a freethinker who had run afoul of both Judaism and Christianity, Spinoza knew that bigotry and fanaticism weren’t just imposed on the people; they were also imposed by the people.
—
Adam Kirsch, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024
In the ninth century, the irreverent freethinker Ibn al-Rawandi used the fertile intellectual climate of the Abbasid caliphate to question prophecy and holy books.
—Jacob McHangama, Foreign Affairs, 9 Feb. 2022
But get this: the freethinkers who dreamed up this potential flood tide work not out of Honda's Japanese R&D center and studio but its American think tank and design enclave in Southern California.
—Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 15 June 2023
That's the sign of a real freethinker.
—Keith Kloor, Discover Magazine, 14 Feb. 2013
See All Example Sentences for freethinker
Adam Kirsch, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024
In the ninth century, the irreverent freethinker Ibn al-Rawandi used the fertile intellectual climate of the Abbasid caliphate to question prophecy and holy books.
—Jacob McHangama, Foreign Affairs, 9 Feb. 2022
But get this: the freethinkers who dreamed up this potential flood tide work not out of Honda's Japanese R&D center and studio but its American think tank and design enclave in Southern California.
—Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 15 June 2023
That's the sign of a real freethinker.
—Keith Kloor, Discover Magazine, 14 Feb. 2013
See All Example Sentences for freethinker
Recent Examples of Synonyms for freethinker
Noun
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Listen to your doctor, not kooks like Bobby Kennedy and Dave Weldon.—
New York Daily News,
Twin Cities,
21 Mar. 2025
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Its inner acolytes came across, by contrast, as uncannily contrived kooks.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
21 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Parker Posey, Jason Isaacs, Walton Goggins and everyone else are doing a terrific job as rich weirdos in Thailand facing various existential crises.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2025
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What about actually getting SpaceGhostPurrp or an underground weirdo on a track?—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
19 Mar. 2025
Noun
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That’s what Elliot (Rudd) and his daughter Ridley (Ortega) confront while on a journey to a retreat hosted by Elliot’s greedy crackpot boss (Grant).—
Randy Myers,
The Mercury News,
21 Mar. 2025
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With Mickey 17, Pattinson doubles down (literally) on the crackpot touches and gives Bong’s follow-up to Parasite a true sense of unpredictable, undeniable lunacy.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
8 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Historically, his efforts to advance more climate-friendly technologies, his socially liberal stances, and his entrepreneurship positioned him as a likable iconoclast by broad swathes of the population.—
Michael Khouw,
CNBC,
13 Mar. 2025
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Even as Republicans embrace him as an iconoclast, Democrats and other critics have lambasted Kennedy as a know-nothing without the scientific or bureaucratic experience to do the job effectively.—
Vox Staff,
Vox,
7 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Robert Redford delivers folksy wisdom as a local eccentric who once had his own dragon encounter, and even Karl Urban’s greedy logger is more of a nuisance than an outright villain.—
Josh Bell,
Vulture,
21 Mar. 2025
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Attracting talent for greater innovation hazards acquiring a few eccentrics whose gifts come wrapped in controversial packaging.—
Chip Bell,
Forbes,
15 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Popular culture’s usual parade of toothless codgers and crones increasingly seemed obsolete.—
Daniel Immerwahr,
The New Yorker,
25 Nov. 2024
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Otto is also suicidal — something A Man Called Otto never sufficiently dramatizes, cheapening the codger’s despair as the film prepares for the feel-good ending to come.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
2 Nov. 2024
Noun
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For nineteenth century individualists, essentialists, and naturalists, the point should be to walk for walking’s sake, not for fame or outward fitness or money.—
The Editors,
JSTOR Daily,
26 Mar. 2025
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No other nation has more outstanding individualists.—
Philipp Lahm,
The Athletic,
24 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Further reading: Trump wants to end this GOP maverick’s political career.—
Emily Brooks,
The Hill,
13 Mar. 2025
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Since the Second World War, the United States has exercised de-facto military control over Greenland, thanks to the maverick diplomat Henrik Kauffmann, who, as Denmark’s envoy to Washington in 1941, granted the U.S. control over its security.—
Louise Bokkenheuser,
The New Yorker,
11 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Freethinker.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/freethinker. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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