gadfly

The libertarian gadfly from Kentucky faces his toughest opponent in the president.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026

Fleming, meanwhile, hasn’t had much to spend, and has always been somewhat of a gadfly going back to his years in the House of Representatives.

From Slate ● May 16, 2026

For decades, he also relished his role as a brutally insulting critic — sometimes of the bands he worked with — and a gadfly who pushed uncomfortable buttons about race, politics and sex.

From New York Times ● May 14, 2024

From Navalny’s early days as a blogger, he rose from being a relatively little-known gadfly — a lawyer who doggedly documented corruption in high places — to the country’s best-known opposition figure.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2024

In various court documents, judges described Cofield as a “con artist,” “no more than a gadfly and an exploiter of the court system,” and “the most litigious inmate in the system.”

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

As is quite common for these kinds of third-party gadflies, Oliver has made a career out of running unsuccessfully in multiple federal elections.

From Slate ● Mar. 12, 2024

Most of the seats during the Anaheim council meeting I attended did end up getting filled — but it was the usual assortment of lobbyists, gadflies, local activists, and happy, mysterious men in sharp suits.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2022

Those are just a few of the celebrity gadflies, sycophants, grifters and weirdos he is backing.

From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2022

But aside from planners, developers and the gadflies who attend late night city council meetings, the average citizen regards it the way they regard their electric company or municipal water system.

From New York Times ● Aug. 26, 2021

I want to grow to be more like an eagle that wings its way out of the habitat of gadflies, and less like a trembling hare pursued by hounds.

From Rosemary and Rue by Amber