as in weirdos
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 freethinkers
These, um, freethinkers were unintentionally encouraged by the airport’s art.
—
Charlie Sosnick, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Dec. 2025
My mom, like many freethinkers of her generation, butted heads against anything that reinforced the status quo, and let us children grow like wild weeds into our own individuals.
—Morgan Lockhart, PEOPLE, 29 Nov. 2025
Doctors volunteered, but so did nurses, store owners, actors, academics, factory workers and freethinkers – even prisoners about to be executed.
—Susan E. Lederer, The Conversation, 10 Mar. 2023
Charlie Sosnick, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Dec. 2025
My mom, like many freethinkers of her generation, butted heads against anything that reinforced the status quo, and let us children grow like wild weeds into our own individuals.
—Morgan Lockhart, PEOPLE, 29 Nov. 2025
Doctors volunteered, but so did nurses, store owners, actors, academics, factory workers and freethinkers – even prisoners about to be executed.
—Susan E. Lederer, The Conversation, 10 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for freethinkers
Noun
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Villainous weirdos like Bronze Age Pervert, Curtis Yarvin, or Jack Donovan who populate the ranks of far-right intellectuals are obsessed with their own fabulism about antiquity, reminding one of the murderous gaggle of privileged college kids in Donna Tart’s 1993 campus novel The Secret History.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
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Restaurants, shops, and parks — lots of old weirdos hanging around.—
Katie McDonough,
Curbed,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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O’Hara worked consistently across her 50-year career in both film and television, best known for playing beloved kooks and amiable wackos, though her range was boundless.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2026
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What so many of these talking heads have in common—legitimate experts, well-meaning journalists, and kooks alike—is how costly their recommendations are.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
3 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Greg Brown, the original guitarist and co-founding member of ’90s alt-rock eccentrics Cake, has died.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
9 Feb. 2026
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On his mother’s side, a line of troubled souls and eccentrics.—
Maya Singer,
Vogue,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The crackpots are the mainstream.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
31 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Jack and Rose are oddballs, neither fitting into their respective societal slots.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
12 Feb. 2026
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Shi’s bottle list encompasses an idiosyncratic mix of classics and oddballs, including stroppy Austrian natural whites alongside multi-thousand-dollar Burgundies, funky low-intervention oranges from Greece, a few bottles from the Japanese winery Coco Farm.—
Helen Rosner,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
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New York City is full of remorseless individualists who nonetheless stick to some codes very rigidly.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
8 Nov. 2025
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Based on actual events, Eden features a starry cast playing a disparate group of rugged individualists who all find themselves in the Galapagos in the early 20th century, each abandoning society in the hopes of creating a utopia.—
Will Leitch,
Vulture,
22 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The women in her stories feel profound, distinct uncertainty toward convention—less as iconoclasts than fierce individuals.—
Chloe Schama,
Vogue,
26 Dec. 2025
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The show’s hosts, Charlotte Shane and Jo Livingstone, are two of our coolest literary iconoclasts.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
9 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The Mediterranean diet has nuts, beans and fish as primary sources of protein, and MyPlate focuses on lean meats as well.—
Madeline Holcombe,
CNN Money,
9 Feb. 2026
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Avoid allergens While most multivitamin companies avoid using common allergens like soy, nuts and dairy, some share production facilities.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Freethinkers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/freethinkers. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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