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.
A gadfly candidate for mayor of Chicago, Lar Daly, secured a quirky FCC ruling.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 8, 2026
The publication was founded in 1955 by the legendary gadfly William F. Buckley Jr. as a salon for the various right-leaning fraternities in American life: fire-eating libertarians, orthodox Catholics, conspiratorial anti-communists.
From Slate • Apr. 25, 2025
“These characters who flit in and out .... are mostly there to be disruptive. They enjoy it.” said Eric Preven, a gadfly whose running commentary is pointed yet civil.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 20, 2023
That day was marred by a gadfly reporter who started off the briefing by griping that he never gets called on — even before press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre asked for questions.
From Salon • Mar. 23, 2023
He saw himself as a muckraking gadfly and had mortgaged his brownstone five times to keep The Phoenix going.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
Vocabulary lists containing gadfly
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
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