SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
nonconformist
noun
A person who does not follow generally accepted beliefs, customs, or patterns of behavior.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Person departing from convention
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topAn iconoclast actively challenges established beliefs; a nonconformist may simply follow a different path.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See nonconformist in use
The story's nonconformist questions a tradition that everyone else accepts.
A nonconformist student rejected the school's customary matching borders and developed deliberately uneven designs that still met the assignment's practical requirements.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license