gadfly

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

Concluding that economics, not politics, held the key to black success in America, Moore started a new career as a corporate gadfly, disrupting stockholders' meetings with pointed questions about racial policies and hiring practices.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson