gadfly

Syllables: gad·flyUK/ˈɡædflaɪ/US/ˈɡædˌflaɪ/

gadfly noun: 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.

Noun

gadfly (plural gadflies)

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...
- Light fly his ſlumbers, if perchance a flight / Of angry gad-flies faſten on the herd; […]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
Synonyms:

warble fly, stoat-fly, stout
(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
  - 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...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
(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
- VVhere are thoſe gad-flies going? to ſome Junket novv; […]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...
Synonyms:

social butterfly, gadabout
(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

gadfly meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Telugu and Malayalam

gadfly in Tamil

நமது பூமியில் காணப்படும் பூச்சிகளில், இது முக்கியமானதொரு இனமாகும்

gadfly in Urdu

خون چوس مکھی, وبال جان

gadfly in Telugu

gadfly: జోరీగ jōrīga

gadfly in Malayalam

പോന്ത, കുതിരയീച്ച

More languagesFewer languages

gadfly in Kannada: ತೊಣಚಿ, ತೊನಸೆ, ತೊಣಚೆ, ತೊಣಸಿ
gadfly in Assamese: ডাঁহ dãh
gadfly in Persian: خرمگس جمع xar-magas-e jam'

Examples of gadfly in a sentence

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.2005, Rafael Argullol, “Introduction”, in Yolanda Gamboa, transl., The End of the World as a Work of Art: A Western Story, Lewisburg, Pa....
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.2012, Andrew Martin, “The World of Charles Pearson”, in Underground Overground: A Passenger’s History of the Tube, London: Profile Books...
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.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....

Synonyms of gadfly

22 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of gadfly

Forms of gadfly

plural	gadflies

Origin of gadfly

From gad (“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. Displaced native Old English bēaw. Sense 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.

Words formed from gadfly

gadfly petrel

Phrases with gadfly

gadfly petrels

Questions about gadfly

What does gadfly mean?: Gadfly means 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.
What is gadfly in Tamil?: Gadfly in Tamil is நமது பூமியில் காணப்படும் பூச்சிகளில், இது முக்கியமானதொரு இனமாகும். See Gadfly meaning in Tamil.
How do you use gadfly in a sentence?: 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.
What part of speech is gadfly?: Gadfly is a noun.
How do you pronounce gadfly?: Gadfly is pronounced /ˈɡædflaɪ/ (UK).
What is the plural of gadfly?: The plural of gadfly is gadflies.

Words near gadfly in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: gadfly (page history and authors); gadfly (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); gadfly (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); జోరీగ (Telugu) (page history and authors); gadfly (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); gadfly (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ডাঁহ (Assamese) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-gadfly.ogg.

Cite this entry: “gadfly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gadfly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.