as in dissident
deviating from commonly accepted beliefs or practices
a cattle-ranching family that took some time in getting used to their daughter's nonconformist adoption of vegetarianism
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in maverick
a person who does not conform to generally accepted standards or customs
always the nonconformist, she insisted on wearing red on St. Patrick's Day and not green like everyone else
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dissenter
a person who believes, teaches, or advocates something opposed to accepted beliefs
a nonconformist who was excommunicated from her church for her teachings
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nonconformist
Charlie Tyson, The Atlantic, 18 Oct. 2022
Ye, however, was widely known to be both a perfectionist and a nonconformist.
—New York Times, 25 July 2022
Fedoras, trilbys and Panamas seem to proclaim the wearer as either an extravagant nonconformist or an anti-feminist reactionary.
—New York Times, 15 July 2022
The Return of Tanya Tucker is a fittingly unconventional portrait of a nonconformist.
—Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Mar. 2022
See All Example Sentences for nonconformist
Noun
In her breakthrough piece, Heretic, Graham is dressed in white and rebuffed and rebuked by a group of 12 women dressed in black: the punishment of the nonconformist.
—Charlie Tyson, The Atlantic, 18 Oct. 2022
Ye, however, was widely known to be both a perfectionist and a nonconformist.
—New York Times, 25 July 2022
Fedoras, trilbys and Panamas seem to proclaim the wearer as either an extravagant nonconformist or an anti-feminist reactionary.
—New York Times, 15 July 2022
The Return of Tanya Tucker is a fittingly unconventional portrait of a nonconformist.
—Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Mar. 2022
See All Example Sentences for nonconformist
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nonconformist
Adjective
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Jafar Panahi — the Iranian dissident filmmaker who has been arrested, jailed, and banned from filmmaking numerous times in his home country due to his powerful and provocative work — took home the top prize.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
26 May 2025
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Meanwhile, as the dissident director heads back to Iran, Iranian media are largely ignoring Jafar Panahi’s momentous Cannes Palme d’Or victory.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
25 May 2025
Noun
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Your Ability To Work Within A Structured System Franchising isn’t necessarily for the maverick who is looking to reinvent themselves and their passion.—
Seth Lederman,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
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Think of Ait-Nouri as a Joao Cancelo type full-back; a maverick in possession, inventive, good in tight spaces, and able to play in the pockets or out wide in a flexible Pep Guardiola team.—
David Ornstein,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
Noun
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All the justices on the Supreme Court today, even the dissenters, in a recent non-final opinion backing away from the Humphrey’s case, have overlooked Brandeis’ language and concerns.—
George Liebmann,
Baltimore Sun,
1 June 2025
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That is precisely what the conservatives did last week; the dissenters were correct to call them out.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
29 May 2025
Adjective
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This unconventional talent pool helped Tesla streamline operations and scale faster than legacy automakers expected.—
David Villa,
Forbes.com,
5 June 2025
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Massey’s plea, while unconventional, underscores ongoing tensions between the criminal justice system and those who feel failed by it.—
Preezy Brown,
VIBE.com,
3 June 2025
Noun
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The director Doris Wishman was a renegade: a woman who made lurid exploitation films at a time when American underground cinema was a man’s playground.—
Erik Piepenburg,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
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Krasinski plays Luke, the sort of quippy renegade who clearly watched too many Indiana Jones movies in his youth.—
Frank Scheck,
HollywoodReporter,
22 May 2025
Adjective
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In the dissenting view, the star collapses to the edge of the event horizon and then hovers there, or rebounds and explodes.—
Corey S. Powell,
Discover Magazine,
26 Feb. 2015
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The document runs to more than a hundred and fifty pages, and for each question there are affirmative and dissenting studies, as well as some that indicate mixed results.—
The New Yorker,
The New Yorker,
3 June 2022
Noun
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There are dozens upon dozens of memorable eccentrics, delusional antiheroes, blustery authority figures, sad sacks, screw-ups and all-too-lovable schmucks that populate the 12 feature films and handful of shorts directed by Wes Anderson.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
28 May 2025
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To take her mind off him, Agathe meets an Austen-like family of eccentrics running the retreat and the sometimes pretentious writers attending it.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
22 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nonconformist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nonconformist. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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