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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The brand’s ready-to-wear this season felt like a conjoining of ideas in its other shows over the past few seasons, creating a kind of wearable kook.—
Julian Randall,
Essence,
3 Mar. 2025
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For the pogues and kooks who've already torn through the first half of the new season of Outer Banks, season 4 part 2 is on its way.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
1 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Would that generally be your advice to the next weirdo in the cast?—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
20 Feb. 2025
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Her versatility as a performer laid the groundwork for future legends like Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, and Kate McKinnon to embrace their own eccentric weirdos.—
Dennis Perkins,
EW.com,
16 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Of course, centuries of bizarre medical solutions have proven that a small volume of patients can seemingly recover from almost any condition regardless of whatever crackpot solution is administered.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
22 Feb. 2025
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Bobby Kennedy and his crackpot ideas will do great harm to Americans.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
29 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Ever the iconoclast, Cindy Sherman carried a fur bag and wore rubber boats with her dark suit.—
Ian Malone,
Vogue,
7 Feb. 2025
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Zoom in: While some CEOs pride themselves on being collegial consensus-builders, many more like to think of themselves as daring iconoclasts, leading from the front into uncharted opportunity.—
Felix Salmon,
Axios,
16 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Would love to know what these career eccentrics make of the pomp and pageantry of the Grammys.—
August Brown,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Feb. 2025
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Foreman was one of the last living crossover theatrical eccentrics, an outsider artist whose philosophically rigorous work for downtown micro-audiences alternated with engagements at Lincoln Center and the Festival d’Automne, in Paris.—
Helen Shaw,
The New Yorker,
9 Jan. 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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Actual Ad The ad Cambridge sent to individualists depicts rows of U.S. flags in a field, an image widely associated with military sacrifice and remembrances of war.—
Corey G. Johnson,
ProPublica,
27 Feb. 2025
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The folly of swapping him out for Ibrahimovic, football’s most brash individualist outside of Cristiano Ronaldo, was exposed in less than a year.—
Liam Twomey,
The Athletic,
6 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Overall, there were palpable achievements, not a few of which involved reminding Americans of the importance of core structural values as the maverick extremes of political discourse exploded in their influence.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Jan. 2025
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Kai Havertz’s finishing, for example, or Kylian Mbappe’s work rate, or the gradual erosion of Jack Grealish’s maverick edge.—
Rory Smith,
The Athletic,
19 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Freethinker.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/freethinker. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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