24 March 2016
maverick
[mav-er-ik, mav-rik]
noun
1. Southwestern U.S. an unbranded calf, cow, or steer, especially an unbranded calf that is separated from its mother.
2. a lone dissenter, as an intellectual, an artist, or a politician, who takes an independent stand apart from his or her associates:
a modern-dance maverick.
Synonyms: nonconformist, individualist; free thinker; loner, lone wolf.
a person pursuing rebellious, even potentially disruptive, policies or ideas:
You can’t muzzle a maverick.
Synonyms: rebel, cowboy; loose cannon.
3. Maverick, an electro-optically guided U.S. air-to-ground tactical missile for destroying tanks and other hardened targets at ranges up to 15 miles (24 km).
adjective
4. unorthodox, unconventional, nonconformist:
a maverick fiscal conservative willing to raise taxes.
Origin of maverick
1865-1870, Americanism; after Samuel A. Maverick (1803-70), Texas pioneer who left his calves unbranded
Word story
The term maverick surged in popularity, propelled by the presidential bid in the late 2000s of US Senator John McCain, then considered a “political maverick” of the Republican Party. Given the word’s Wild West roots, maverick has always had an edgy, rebellious connotation: it originally referred to unbranded cattle that strayed from the herd, putting their ownership in doubt. It was then a short step in going from this original meaning to applying the word to a person who strayed from and did not follow the thinking of a group he or she belonged to, or who rebelled against accepted ideas or to a herd mentality. Maverick thus came to generally mean an individualistic and independent thinker. In popular culture, as exemplified in the movies Maverick (1994) and Top Gun (1986), the term often describes colorful gamblers and risk takers. Depending on context, then, maverick can be applied to a pioneer who bucks current trends, or to a wild and potentially reckless loose cannon.
Popular references
—Dallas Mavericks: American professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas, a member of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
— Maverick : popular American TV series (1957–62) set in the Wild West that inspired a film of the same name (1994).
—Maverick: Nickname and call sign of ace fighter pilot, played by Tom Cruise, in the film Top Gun (1986).
—Ford Maverick: Stylish, youthfully designed mid-size car made in the late 1960s and ‘70s in North America and Brazil.
Related Quotations Expand
“Gradually the term [maverick] came to mean any unbranded cattle of unknown ownership. Such animals were fair game for the first branding iron.“
—Richard W. Slatta, The Cowboy Encyclopedia (1994)
“Maverick is a word which appeals to me more than misfit. Maverick is active, misfit is passive.“
—Alan Rickman (actor), “Alan Rickman’s Quotes“ Facebook (2008)
“The rugged individualist is too often mistaken for the misfit, the maverick, the spoilsport, the sore thumb.“
—Lewis H. Lapham, Money and Class in America: Notes and Observations on Our Civil Religion (1988)
“Listen closely to maverick entrepreneurs…, and you quickly realize that they don’t sound like traditional executives.“
—William C. Taylor and Polly G. Labarr, Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win (2006)
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for maverick
Contemporary Examples
McCain thinks of himself as a maverick, an unorthodox thinker, a dissenter.
McCain’s Revenge
News Shrink
November 4, 2008
maverick ‘s “education” is part of a growing wisdom that good old-fashioned play may be better than hitting the books.
Let Preschoolers Play!
Joyce C. Tang
April 4, 2011
Anagram
vim creak
mark vice
Today’s quote
I know of only one duty, and that is to love.
– Albert Camus
On this day
24 March 1958 – Elvis Presley is conscripted into the U.S. Army as a Private. He was discharged on 2 March 1960 with the rank of Sergeant.
24 March 1989 – the oil-tanker, Exxon Valdez, is seriously damaged after running aground on a reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Over 11 million gallons of crude oil was released, resulting in a five mile oil slick, which caused severe environmental damage, including the deaths of 250,000 birds, 3,000 sea otters, 300 seals, 22 killer whales and an untold number of fish.
24 March 1973 – Pink Floyd release their iconic ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ album, which is the 6th best-selling album of all time with over 40 million sales worldwide.