gadflies

Noun

gadfly (plural gadflies)

1. Any dipterous (“two-winged”) insect or fly of the family Oestridae (commonly known as a bot fly) or Tabanidae (horse fly), noted for irritating animals by buzzing about them, and biting them to suck their blood; a gadbee.
   • 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; […]1593, Gabriell Haruey [i.e., Gabriel Harvey], Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame, London: […] Iohn Wolfe...

   Synonyms:

   warble fly, stoat-fly, stout

2. (also, attributive, figuratively) A person or thing that irritates or instigates.
   • VVhat gad flye tickles ſo this Macrinus, / That vp-flinging thy tayle, he breakes thus from me.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...
   1. (also, attributive, figuratively, specifically) A person who upsets the status quo by posing novel or upsetting questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by being an irritant.
      • There is a function for the gadfly who poses questions that many specialists would like to overlook. Polemics is healthy.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
3. (also, attributive, figuratively) Synonym of gadabout (“a person who restlessly moves from place to place, seeking amusement or the companionship of others”).
   • VVhat VVinnie? VVife, I ſay? out of dores at this time! vvhere ſhould I ſeeke the Gad-flye?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

   Synonyms:

   social butterfly, gadabout

4. (also, attributive, derogatory, figuratively, slang) A person who takes without giving back; a bloodsucker.
   • He’s a regular gadfly and takes advantage of his friend’s generosity.

   Synonyms:

   bloodsucker, bludger, bummer, freeloader, free rider, leech, mooch, moocher, parasite, scrounge