See gadfly in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0 0",
"word": "gadfly petrel"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "deer botfly"
},
"expansion": "deer botfly",
"name": "vern"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "Cephenemyia stimulator",
"2": "species"
},
"expansion": "Cephenemyia stimulator",
"name": "taxlink"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*plewk-"
},
"expansion": "",
"name": "root"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gad",
"3": "fly",
"t1": "(obsolete) sharp point, spike; (dialectal) sharp-pointed rod for driving cattle, horses, etc., goad"
},
"expansion": "gad (“(obsolete) sharp point, spike; (dialectal) sharp-pointed rod for driving cattle, horses, etc., goad”) + fly",
"name": "af"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "gad"
},
"expansion": "Middle English gad",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "non",
"3": "gaddr",
"t": "spike; goad"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse gaddr (“spike; goad”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*gazdaz",
"t": "spike; goad"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *gazdaz (“spike; goad”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "B.C.E.",
"name": "B.C.E."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "470",
"short": "1"
},
"expansion": "c. 470",
"name": "circa2"
},
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "B.C.E.",
"name": "B.C.E."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "grc",
"2": "μῠ́ωψ"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek μῠ́ωψ (mŭ́ōps)",
"name": "noncog"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From gad (“(obsolete) sharp point, spike; (dialectal) sharp-pointed rod for driving cattle, horses, etc., goad”) + fly, in the sense of a fly which irritates cattle, etc., by biting them, similar to the prodding of a goad. Gad is derived from Middle English gad, gadde (“metal spike with a sharp point; stick with a sharp point for driving animals, goad; metal bar or rod, ingot; (by extension) lump of material; metal rod for measuring land; (by extension) unit of linear measure equal to about 10 to 16 feet”), borrowed from Old Norse gaddr (“spike; goad”), from Proto-Germanic *gazdaz (“spike; goad”), further etymology uncertain.\nSense 2.1.1 (“person who upsets the status quo”) may allude to the Apology by the Greek philosopher Plato (428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 B.C.E.), where he describes Socrates (c. 470 – 399 B.C.E.) acting as a goad to the Athenian political scene like a gadfly (Ancient Greek μῠ́ωψ (mŭ́ōps)) arousing a sluggish horse.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "gadflies",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "gadfly (plural gadflies)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"gad‧fly"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "35 7 7 14 37",
"kind": "lifeform",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Horseflies",
"orig": "en:Horseflies",
"parents": [
"Dipterans",
"Insects",
"Arthropods",
"Animals",
"Lifeforms",
"All topics",
"Life",
"Fundamental",
"Nature"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "33 7 10 14 36",
"kind": "lifeform",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Oestroid flies",
"orig": "en:Oestroid flies",
"parents": [
"Dipterans",
"Insects",
"Arthropods",
"Animals",
"Lifeforms",
"All topics",
"Life",
"Fundamental",
"Nature"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "(botfly):"
},
{
"text": "(horsefly):"
},
{
"ref": "1593, Gabriel Harvey, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse, London: […] Iohn Wolfe, →OCLC; republished as John Payne Collier, editor, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame (Miscellaneous Tracts. Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I; no. 8), [London: [s.n.], 1870], →OCLC, page 147:",
"text": "He that made that ryme in jeſt, little conſidered what a gad-fly may doe in earneſt. It is ſmall wiſedome to contemne the ſmalleſt enemy; the gad-fly is a little creature, but ſome little creatures be ſtingers; […]",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Summer”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC, page 65, lines 498–499:",
"text": "Light fly his ſlumbers, if perchance a flight / Of angry gad-flies faſten on the herd; […]",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1841, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Essay I. History.”, in Essays, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, pages 18–19:",
"text": "The nomads of Africa are constrained to wander by the attacks of the gadfly, which drives the cattle mad, and so compels the tribe to emigrate in the rainy season and drive off the cattle to the higher sandy regions.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2005, Rafael Argullol, “Introduction”, in Yolanda Gamboa, transl., The End of the World as a Work of Art: A Western Story, Lewisburg, Pa.: Bucknell University Press; Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, →ISBN, page 48:",
"text": "Vengeful Hera transformed her [Io] into an animal (a beautiful cow), and imposed upon her the company of a gadfly to sting her continuously, thus forcing her to escape on an endless pilgrimage.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Any dipterous (“two-winged”) insect or fly of the family Oestridae (commonly known as a botfly) or Tabanidae (horsefly), noted for irritating animals by buzzing about them, and biting them to suck their blood; a gadbee."
],
"id": "en-gadfly-en-noun-B4JLxqw6",
"links": [
[
"dipterous",
"dipterous#English"
],
[
"two",
"two#Numeral"
],
[
"winged",
"winged#Adjective"
],
[
"insect",
"insect"
],
[
"fly",
"fly#Noun"
],
[
"family",
"family"
],
[
"Oestridae",
"Oestridae#Translingual"
],
[
"commonly",
"commonly"
],
[
"known",
"know#Verb"
],
[
"botfly",
"botfly"
],
[
"Tabanidae",
"Tabanidae#Translingual"
],
[
"horsefly",
"horsefly"
],
[
"noted",
"note#Verb"
],
[
"irritating",
"irritate"
],
[
"animal",
"animal"
],
[
"buzzing",
"buzz#Verb"
],
[
"biting",
"bite#Verb"
],
[
"suck",
"suck#Verb"
],
[
"blood",
"blood#Noun"
],
[
"gadbee",
"gadbee"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "warble fly"
},
{
"word": "stoat-fly"
},
{
"word": "stout"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1620 (first performance; published 1622), Philip Messenger [i.e., Philip Massinger], Thomas Dekker, The Virgin Martir, a Tragedie. […], London: […] Bernard Alsop for Thomas Iones, →OCLC, Act II, signature [D4], recto:",
"text": "VVhat gad flye tickles ſo this Macrinus, / That vp-flinging thy tayle, he breakes thus from me.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person or thing that irritates or instigates."
],
"id": "en-gadfly-en-noun-q5vodkt5",
"links": [
[
"person",
"person#Noun"
],
[
"thing",
"thing"
],
[
"instigate",
"instigate"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figurative, also attributive)",
"A person or thing that irritates or instigates."
],
"tags": [
"also",
"attributive",
"figuratively"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "4 0 65 15 15",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
"parents": [
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "5 3 78 7 7",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Personality",
"orig": "en:Personality",
"parents": [
"Mind",
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1977, Morris Kline, Why the Professor Can’t Teach: Mathematics and the Dilemma of University Education, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 238:",
"text": "There is a function for the gadfly who poses questions that many specialists would like to overlook. Polemics is healthy.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2012, Andrew Martin, “The World of Charles Pearson”, in Underground Overground: A Passenger’s History of the Tube, London: Profile Books, →ISBN, pages 26–27:",
"text": "What was required now was the intervention of some men who were not gadflies. […] The logic of [Charles] Pearson's arguments was accepted, up to a point, by a consortium of businessmen. In August 1854, […] the consortium obtained royal assent for […] the Metropolitan Railway. […] In 1859, when it looked as though the Metropolitan Railway Company would be wound up with no line built, he [Pearson] wrote a pamphlet: A Twenty Minutes Letter to the Citizens of London in Favour of the Metropolitan Railway and City Station. Gadfly he may have been, but by this 'letter' he persuaded the Corporation of London to invest £200,000 in the line, a most unusual example of a public body investing in a Victorian railway.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2021 April 10, John Leland, “This heroin-using professor wants to change how we think about drugs”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-05-28:",
"text": "Dr. [Carl] Hart, 54, the first tenured African-American science professor at Columbia, is a gadfly among drug researchers and a rock star among advocates for decriminalizing drugs.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person or thing that irritates or instigates.",
"A person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant."
],
"id": "en-gadfly-en-noun-wRfQl6U6",
"links": [
[
"person",
"person#Noun"
],
[
"thing",
"thing"
],
[
"instigate",
"instigate"
],
[
"upsets",
"upset#Verb"
],
[
"status quo",
"status quo"
],
[
"posing",
"pose#Verb"
],
[
"novel",
"novel#Adjective"
],
[
"upsetting",
"upsetting#Adjective"
],
[
"questions",
"question#Noun"
],
[
"attempts",
"attempt#Verb"
],
[
"stimulate",
"stimulate"
],
[
"innovation",
"innovation"
],
[
"irritant",
"irritant#Noun"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figurative, also attributive)",
"A person or thing that irritates or instigates.",
"(specifically) A person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "maverick"
}
],
"tags": [
"also",
"attributive",
"figuratively",
"specifically"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "1 8 72 9 11",
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "provokatør"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 8 72 9 11",
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "urostifter"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 8 72 9 11",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"word": "häirikkö"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 8 72 9 11",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "empêcheur de tourner en rond"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 8 72 9 11",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Störenfried"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 8 72 9 11",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Quälgeist"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 8 72 9 11",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Querulant"
},
{
"_dis1": "1 8 72 9 11",
"code": "fa",
"lang": "Persian",
"roman": "xar-magas-e jam'",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"word": "خرمگس جمع"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "35 7 7 14 37",
"kind": "lifeform",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Horseflies",
"orig": "en:Horseflies",
"parents": [
"Dipterans",
"Insects",
"Arthropods",
"Animals",
"Lifeforms",
"All topics",
"Life",
"Fundamental",
"Nature"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "33 7 10 14 36",
"kind": "lifeform",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Oestroid flies",
"orig": "en:Oestroid flies",
"parents": [
"Dipterans",
"Insects",
"Arthropods",
"Animals",
"Lifeforms",
"All topics",
"Life",
"Fundamental",
"Nature"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1605 August (first performance), Geo[rge] Chapman, Ben Ionson, Ioh[n] Marston, Eastward Hoe. […], London: […] [George Eld] for William Aspley, published September 1605, →OCLC, Act III, scene ii:",
"text": "VVhat VVinnie? VVife, I ſay? out of dores at this time! vvhere ſhould I ſeeke the Gad-flye?",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "c. 1613, Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, “Wit at Several Weapons. A Comedy.”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page 85, column 2:",
"text": "VVhere are thoſe gad-flies going? to ſome Junket novv; […]",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1753 (indicated as 1754), [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XVIII. Miss Byron. In Continuation.”, in The History of Sir Charles Grandison. […], volume I, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by C. Hitch and L. Hawes, […], →OCLC, page 125:",
"text": "[Y]our Harriet may turn gadfly, and never be eaſy but vvhen ſhe is forming parties, or giving vvay to them, that may make the home, that hitherto has been the chief ſcene of her pleaſures, undelightful to her.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Synonym of gadabout (“a person who restlessly moves from place to place, seeking amusement or the companionship of others”)"
],
"id": "en-gadfly-en-noun-dWDFt4Me",
"links": [
[
"gadabout",
"gadabout#English"
],
[
"restlessly",
"restlessly"
],
[
"moves",
"move#Verb"
],
[
"place",
"place#Noun"
],
[
"seeking",
"seek#Verb"
],
[
"amusement",
"amusement"
],
[
"companionship",
"companionship"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figurative, also attributive)",
"Synonym of gadabout (“a person who restlessly moves from place to place, seeking amusement or the companionship of others”)"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "social butterfly"
},
{
"extra": "a person who restlessly moves from place to place, seeking amusement or the companionship of others",
"tags": [
"synonym",
"synonym-of"
],
"word": "gadabout"
}
],
"tags": [
"also",
"attributive",
"figuratively"
]
},
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"_dis": "18 7 10 21 43",
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"_dis": "19 7 17 20 38",
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"name": "Terms with Turkish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "35 7 7 14 37",
"kind": "lifeform",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Horseflies",
"orig": "en:Horseflies",
"parents": [
"Dipterans",
"Insects",
"Arthropods",
"Animals",
"Lifeforms",
"All topics",
"Life",
"Fundamental",
"Nature"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "33 7 10 14 36",
"kind": "lifeform",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Oestroid flies",
"orig": "en:Oestroid flies",
"parents": [
"Dipterans",
"Insects",
"Arthropods",
"Animals",
"Lifeforms",
"All topics",
"Life",
"Fundamental",
"Nature"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "16 8 11 16 48",
"kind": "lifeform",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Parasites",
"orig": "en:Parasites",
"parents": [
"Lifeforms",
"All topics",
"Life",
"Fundamental",
"Nature"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "He’s a regular gadfly and takes advantage of his friend’s generosity.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person who takes without giving back; a bloodsucker."
],
"id": "en-gadfly-en-noun-hRDNpzQ5",
"links": [
[
"derogatory",
"derogatory"
],
[
"takes",
"take#Verb"
],
[
"giving",
"give#Verb"
],
[
"bloodsucker",
"bloodsucker"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figurative, also attributive)",
"(derogatory, slang) A person who takes without giving back; a bloodsucker."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "scrounger"
}
],
"tags": [
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"attributive",
"derogatory",
"figuratively",
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈɡædflaɪ/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈɡædˌflaɪ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-gadfly.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7b/En-au-gadfly.ogg/En-au-gadfly.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/En-au-gadfly.ogg"
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],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "2 41 41 7 10",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "person or thing that irritates or instigates",
"word": "piikittelijä"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 41 41 7 10",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "person or thing that irritates or instigates",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "casse-pieds"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 41 41 7 10",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "person or thing that irritates or instigates",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Störenfried"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 41 41 7 10",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "person or thing that irritates or instigates",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Quälgeist"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 41 41 7 10",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "person or thing that irritates or instigates",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Querulant"
},
{
"_dis1": "2 41 41 7 10",
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "person or thing that irritates or instigates",
"word": "baş belası"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Harold North Fowler",
"Harvard University Press",
"Loeb Classical Library",
"Plato",
"Socrates"
],
"word": "gadfly"
}
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"English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *plewk-",
"English terms inherited from Middle English",
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"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Persian translations",
"Terms with Turkish translations",
"en:Horseflies",
"en:Oestroid flies",
"en:Parasites",
"en:People",
"en:Personality"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "gadfly petrel"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "deer botfly"
},
"expansion": "deer botfly",
"name": "vern"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "Cephenemyia stimulator",
"2": "species"
},
"expansion": "Cephenemyia stimulator",
"name": "taxlink"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*plewk-"
},
"expansion": "",
"name": "root"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gad",
"3": "fly",
"t1": "(obsolete) sharp point, spike; (dialectal) sharp-pointed rod for driving cattle, horses, etc., goad"
},
"expansion": "gad (“(obsolete) sharp point, spike; (dialectal) sharp-pointed rod for driving cattle, horses, etc., goad”) + fly",
"name": "af"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "gad"
},
"expansion": "Middle English gad",
"name": "inh"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "non",
"3": "gaddr",
"t": "spike; goad"
},
"expansion": "Old Norse gaddr (“spike; goad”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*gazdaz",
"t": "spike; goad"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *gazdaz (“spike; goad”)",
"name": "der"
},
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "B.C.E.",
"name": "B.C.E."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "470",
"short": "1"
},
"expansion": "c. 470",
"name": "circa2"
},
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "B.C.E.",
"name": "B.C.E."
},
{
"args": {
"1": "grc",
"2": "μῠ́ωψ"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek μῠ́ωψ (mŭ́ōps)",
"name": "noncog"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From gad (“(obsolete) sharp point, spike; (dialectal) sharp-pointed rod for driving cattle, horses, etc., goad”) + fly, in the sense of a fly which irritates cattle, etc., by biting them, similar to the prodding of a goad. Gad is derived from Middle English gad, gadde (“metal spike with a sharp point; stick with a sharp point for driving animals, goad; metal bar or rod, ingot; (by extension) lump of material; metal rod for measuring land; (by extension) unit of linear measure equal to about 10 to 16 feet”), borrowed from Old Norse gaddr (“spike; goad”), from Proto-Germanic *gazdaz (“spike; goad”), further etymology uncertain.\nSense 2.1.1 (“person who upsets the status quo”) may allude to the Apology by the Greek philosopher Plato (428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 B.C.E.), where he describes Socrates (c. 470 – 399 B.C.E.) acting as a goad to the Athenian political scene like a gadfly (Ancient Greek μῠ́ωψ (mŭ́ōps)) arousing a sluggish horse.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "gadflies",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "gadfly (plural gadflies)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"hyphenation": [
"gad‧fly"
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "(botfly):"
},
{
"text": "(horsefly):"
},
{
"ref": "1593, Gabriel Harvey, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse, London: […] Iohn Wolfe, →OCLC; republished as John Payne Collier, editor, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame (Miscellaneous Tracts. Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I; no. 8), [London: [s.n.], 1870], →OCLC, page 147:",
"text": "He that made that ryme in jeſt, little conſidered what a gad-fly may doe in earneſt. It is ſmall wiſedome to contemne the ſmalleſt enemy; the gad-fly is a little creature, but ſome little creatures be ſtingers; […]",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Summer”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC, page 65, lines 498–499:",
"text": "Light fly his ſlumbers, if perchance a flight / Of angry gad-flies faſten on the herd; […]",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1841, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Essay I. History.”, in Essays, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, pages 18–19:",
"text": "The nomads of Africa are constrained to wander by the attacks of the gadfly, which drives the cattle mad, and so compels the tribe to emigrate in the rainy season and drive off the cattle to the higher sandy regions.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2005, Rafael Argullol, “Introduction”, in Yolanda Gamboa, transl., The End of the World as a Work of Art: A Western Story, Lewisburg, Pa.: Bucknell University Press; Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, →ISBN, page 48:",
"text": "Vengeful Hera transformed her [Io] into an animal (a beautiful cow), and imposed upon her the company of a gadfly to sting her continuously, thus forcing her to escape on an endless pilgrimage.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Any dipterous (“two-winged”) insect or fly of the family Oestridae (commonly known as a botfly) or Tabanidae (horsefly), noted for irritating animals by buzzing about them, and biting them to suck their blood; a gadbee."
],
"links": [
[
"dipterous",
"dipterous#English"
],
[
"two",
"two#Numeral"
],
[
"winged",
"winged#Adjective"
],
[
"insect",
"insect"
],
[
"fly",
"fly#Noun"
],
[
"family",
"family"
],
[
"Oestridae",
"Oestridae#Translingual"
],
[
"commonly",
"commonly"
],
[
"known",
"know#Verb"
],
[
"botfly",
"botfly"
],
[
"Tabanidae",
"Tabanidae#Translingual"
],
[
"horsefly",
"horsefly"
],
[
"noted",
"note#Verb"
],
[
"irritating",
"irritate"
],
[
"animal",
"animal"
],
[
"buzzing",
"buzz#Verb"
],
[
"biting",
"bite#Verb"
],
[
"suck",
"suck#Verb"
],
[
"blood",
"blood#Noun"
],
[
"gadbee",
"gadbee"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "warble fly"
},
{
"word": "stoat-fly"
},
{
"word": "stout"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1620 (first performance; published 1622), Philip Messenger [i.e., Philip Massinger], Thomas Dekker, The Virgin Martir, a Tragedie. […], London: […] Bernard Alsop for Thomas Iones, →OCLC, Act II, signature [D4], recto:",
"text": "VVhat gad flye tickles ſo this Macrinus, / That vp-flinging thy tayle, he breakes thus from me.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person or thing that irritates or instigates."
],
"links": [
[
"person",
"person#Noun"
],
[
"thing",
"thing"
],
[
"instigate",
"instigate"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figurative, also attributive)",
"A person or thing that irritates or instigates."
],
"tags": [
"also",
"attributive",
"figuratively"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1977, Morris Kline, Why the Professor Can’t Teach: Mathematics and the Dilemma of University Education, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 238:",
"text": "There is a function for the gadfly who poses questions that many specialists would like to overlook. Polemics is healthy.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2012, Andrew Martin, “The World of Charles Pearson”, in Underground Overground: A Passenger’s History of the Tube, London: Profile Books, →ISBN, pages 26–27:",
"text": "What was required now was the intervention of some men who were not gadflies. […] The logic of [Charles] Pearson's arguments was accepted, up to a point, by a consortium of businessmen. In August 1854, […] the consortium obtained royal assent for […] the Metropolitan Railway. […] In 1859, when it looked as though the Metropolitan Railway Company would be wound up with no line built, he [Pearson] wrote a pamphlet: A Twenty Minutes Letter to the Citizens of London in Favour of the Metropolitan Railway and City Station. Gadfly he may have been, but by this 'letter' he persuaded the Corporation of London to invest £200,000 in the line, a most unusual example of a public body investing in a Victorian railway.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2021 April 10, John Leland, “This heroin-using professor wants to change how we think about drugs”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-05-28:",
"text": "Dr. [Carl] Hart, 54, the first tenured African-American science professor at Columbia, is a gadfly among drug researchers and a rock star among advocates for decriminalizing drugs.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person or thing that irritates or instigates.",
"A person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant."
],
"links": [
[
"person",
"person#Noun"
],
[
"thing",
"thing"
],
[
"instigate",
"instigate"
],
[
"upsets",
"upset#Verb"
],
[
"status quo",
"status quo"
],
[
"posing",
"pose#Verb"
],
[
"novel",
"novel#Adjective"
],
[
"upsetting",
"upsetting#Adjective"
],
[
"questions",
"question#Noun"
],
[
"attempts",
"attempt#Verb"
],
[
"stimulate",
"stimulate"
],
[
"innovation",
"innovation"
],
[
"irritant",
"irritant#Noun"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figurative, also attributive)",
"A person or thing that irritates or instigates.",
"(specifically) A person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "maverick"
}
],
"tags": [
"also",
"attributive",
"figuratively",
"specifically"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1605 August (first performance), Geo[rge] Chapman, Ben Ionson, Ioh[n] Marston, Eastward Hoe. […], London: […] [George Eld] for William Aspley, published September 1605, →OCLC, Act III, scene ii:",
"text": "VVhat VVinnie? VVife, I ſay? out of dores at this time! vvhere ſhould I ſeeke the Gad-flye?",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "c. 1613, Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, “Wit at Several Weapons. A Comedy.”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page 85, column 2:",
"text": "VVhere are thoſe gad-flies going? to ſome Junket novv; […]",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1753 (indicated as 1754), [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XVIII. Miss Byron. In Continuation.”, in The History of Sir Charles Grandison. […], volume I, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by C. Hitch and L. Hawes, […], →OCLC, page 125:",
"text": "[Y]our Harriet may turn gadfly, and never be eaſy but vvhen ſhe is forming parties, or giving vvay to them, that may make the home, that hitherto has been the chief ſcene of her pleaſures, undelightful to her.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Synonym of gadabout (“a person who restlessly moves from place to place, seeking amusement or the companionship of others”)"
],
"links": [
[
"gadabout",
"gadabout#English"
],
[
"restlessly",
"restlessly"
],
[
"moves",
"move#Verb"
],
[
"place",
"place#Noun"
],
[
"seeking",
"seek#Verb"
],
[
"amusement",
"amusement"
],
[
"companionship",
"companionship"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figurative, also attributive)",
"Synonym of gadabout (“a person who restlessly moves from place to place, seeking amusement or the companionship of others”)"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "social butterfly"
},
{
"extra": "a person who restlessly moves from place to place, seeking amusement or the companionship of others",
"tags": [
"synonym",
"synonym-of"
],
"word": "gadabout"
}
],
"tags": [
"also",
"attributive",
"figuratively"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English derogatory terms",
"English slang",
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "He’s a regular gadfly and takes advantage of his friend’s generosity.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person who takes without giving back; a bloodsucker."
],
"links": [
[
"derogatory",
"derogatory"
],
[
"takes",
"take#Verb"
],
[
"giving",
"give#Verb"
],
[
"bloodsucker",
"bloodsucker"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figurative, also attributive)",
"(derogatory, slang) A person who takes without giving back; a bloodsucker."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "scrounger"
}
],
"tags": [
"also",
"attributive",
"derogatory",
"figuratively",
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈɡædflaɪ/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈɡædˌflaɪ/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-gadfly.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7b/En-au-gadfly.ogg/En-au-gadfly.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/En-au-gadfly.ogg"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "person or thing that irritates or instigates",
"word": "piikittelijä"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "person or thing that irritates or instigates",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "casse-pieds"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "person or thing that irritates or instigates",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Störenfried"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "person or thing that irritates or instigates",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Quälgeist"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "person or thing that irritates or instigates",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Querulant"
},
{
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "person or thing that irritates or instigates",
"word": "baş belası"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "provokatør"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "urostifter"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"word": "häirikkö"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "empêcheur de tourner en rond"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Störenfried"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Quälgeist"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Querulant"
},
{
"code": "fa",
"lang": "Persian",
"roman": "xar-magas-e jam'",
"sense": "person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant",
"word": "خرمگس جمع"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Harold North Fowler",
"Harvard University Press",
"Loeb Classical Library",
"Plato",
"Socrates"
],
"word": "gadfly"
}
Download raw JSONL data for gadfly meaning in English (15.1kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-10 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (df33d17 and 4ed51a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.