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Gadfly

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GAD-fly

Definition

(noun) A person who persistently provokes, annoys, or challenges others, especially those in positions of power or complacency, in order to stimulate change

Example

The journalist had a reputation as a gadfly, asking the uncomfortable questions that everyone else in the room was too polite to raise.

Word Origin

Gadfly is a compound of gad — from the Old Norse gaddr, meaning “spike” or “sting” — and fly, referring to the actual biting insect that torments livestock. The literal gadfly is a large biting fly that drives cattle into a frenzy, and the metaphorical extension to people who persistently sting and provoke has been in use since at least the 16th century.

Fun Fact

Socrates famously embraced the gadfly label for himself. In Plato’s Apology, he described Athens as a great but sluggish horse, and himself as the gadfly sent by the gods to sting it into wakefulness — to provoke citizens into examining their beliefs and assumptions rather than drifting through life unquestioned. It is one of history’s most memorable self-descriptions, and it cost him dearly: Athens eventually sentenced him to death for it. The gadfly, it turns out, is not always thanked for its work.