Nearby Words
noun, plural -flies.
1.
2.
a person who persistently annoys or provokes others with criticism, schemes, ideas, demands, requests, etc.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
|
Link To gadfly
:10
:09
:08
:07
:06
:05
:04
:03
:02
:01
Gadfly
is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
Example Sentences
- Davis, an outspoken gadfly with a long history of haranguing.
- Socrates remained the ever irritating gadfly for a reason.
- Marder, the latest in a long line of gadfly lawyers who contend that it's their job to keep the.
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
gadfly
1620s, "fly which bites cattle," probably from gad "goad, metal rod" (early 13c.), here in the sense of "stinger," from O.N. gaddr "spike, nail," from P.Gmc. *gadaz "pointed stick;" but sense is entangled with gad (v.) and an early meaning of gadfly was also "someone who likes
EXPANDto go about, often stopping here and there." Sense of "one who irritates another" is from 1640s (equivalent of L. oestrus).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.