as in dissident
deviating from commonly accepted beliefs or practices
a cattle-ranching family that took some time in getting used to their daughter's nonconformist adoption of vegetarianism
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in maverick
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dissenter
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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nonconformist
Big Think, 27 Nov. 2025
Charlie Tyson, The Atlantic, 18 Oct. 2022
The uniform and the nonconformist.
—Rachel Tashjian, Harper's BAZAAR, 9 Aug. 2022
See All Example Sentences for nonconformist
Adjective
In an environment like this, choosing not to speak can be as nonconformist, and perhaps even as difficult, as open dissent.
—Noun
In her breakthrough piece, Heretic, Graham is dressed in white and rebuffed and rebuked by a group of 12 women dressed in black: the punishment of the nonconformist.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for nonconformist
Adjective
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After hundreds of thousands of opposition protesters took to the streets in April 2002, Chavez was briefly ousted in a coup by dissident military officers and opposition figures, who installed a new president, businessman Pedro Carmona.—
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The National Liberation Army, or ELN, and FARC dissident groups operate in multiple states along the Venezuela-Colombia border.—
Noun
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Then there was his creation of the ad hoc Department of Government Efficiency that fell under the leadership of maverick entrepreneur Elon Musk.—
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Trump hadn’t hired a kooky, maverick academic who happened to agree with him on tariffs, as has often been suggested.—
Noun
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The Venezuelan regime assassinated dissenters, unlawfully detained opposition leaders (such as Maria Corina Machado), and still holds political prisoners hostage.—
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People have been betrayed by organizations, families and religious groups, which can be harshest on their dissenters.—
Adjective
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Its modular architecture allows custom sizes, voltages, and geometries, enabling unconventional uses such as structural integration into vehicle frames, drones, or chassis designs.—
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In the series, Winkler would play Howard Greenberg, a hard-driving and unconventional criminal defense attorney who is a fierce advocate for his underdog clients.—
Noun
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Brooks Koepka’s decision to leave LIV Golf years after becoming one of the notable faces to join the renegade league sent shock waves through the sport this week.—
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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said last month that a Chinese attack on Taiwan — which Beijing claims as a renegade province — could spark a military response from Tokyo, leading to the countries’ worst diplomatic crisis in years.—
Adjective
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Board member Renee Paschall cast the lone dissenting vote on the final package.—
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The document runs to more than a hundred and fifty pages, and for each question there are affirmative and dissenting studies, as well as some that indicate mixed results.—
Noun
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Also, Joan Cusack plays an infamous local eccentric, and a fictional pop star shows up!—
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The logger and railsplitter occasionally encounters American eccentrics, like a chatty drifter prone to sporting bible verses and an old coot of a demolitions expert with a philosophical bent.—
Cite this Entry
“Nonconformist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nonconformist. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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