nonconformists

noun

plural of nonconformist
1
as in bohemians
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

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2
as in dissenters
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of nonconformists At least Guillén still speaks his mind on the Sox’s pre- and postgame shows, so maybe there’s hope for nonconformists after all. — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 22 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nonconformists
  1. mavericks
  2. dissenters
  3. iconoclasts
  4. dissidents
Noun
  • Carl Anka Trent Alexander-Arnold’s England career is a fascinating case study in why team sports can prefer the orthodox to the mavericks.
    — The Athletic UK Staff, New York Times, 13 May 2026
  • The confluence at Black Mountain of émigré artists like Josef and Anni Albers with homegrown mavericks like John Cage and Buckminster Fuller (who constructed his first geodesic dome there) marked an early flowering of this mode of learning, which was still in fine health decades later.
    — Christopher Benfey, The New York Review of Books, 19 Apr. 2026
Definition of mavericks
Noun
  • Their restricted status turned many into dissenters and activists, often tailed by the KGB and getting their phone lines cut in an effort to keep their stories quiet.
    — Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
  • This echoed recent comments from three dissenters — Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan — who supported pulling the trigger on a quarter-point rate hike.
    — Andrew Moran, Baltimore Sun, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of dissenters
Noun
  • Primus’ Bay Area cult following snowballed into a deal with Virgin offshoot Caroline Records for their studio debut, 1990’s Frizzle Fry, which established Primus as irresistible genre iconoclasts.
    — Sasha Geffen, Pitchfork, 2 Aug. 2026
  • By the early 1990s, Eugene had earned itself a reputation as a beacon of progressive-minded irreverence, drawing a pungent mix of weirdos, iconoclasts, and freethinkers.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 July 2026
Definition of iconoclasts
Noun
  • As Mikhail Gorbachev became Soviet premier and promised new openness with a policy of glasnost, a slow thaw would begin toward free speech, human rights, the release of political dissidents and relaxed restrictions on emigration.
    — Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
  • The deportation of Iranians to a country whose government has a pattern of violent persecution against women, religious minorities and political dissidents has drawn significant criticism from human rights activists.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of dissidents

Browse Nearby Words

nonconformist
nonconformists
nonconformities
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Cite this Entry

“Nonconformists.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nonconformists. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

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