gadfly

n.

1. A persistent irritating critic; a nuisance.
2. One that acts as a provocative stimulus; a goad.
3. Any of various flies, especially of the family Tabanidae, that bite or annoy livestock and other animals.

[GAD² + FLY².]

(GAD-fly)

noun
1. One who persistently annoys.
2. Any of the various types of flies that bite livestock.

Etymology
From gad (a goad for cattle), from Middle English, from Old Norse gaddr.

Usage
"Despite his stern image, (Jean) Drapeau loved gossip and bawdy, sometimes silly jokes. Because of that he became close friends with a vocal critic, opposition councillor and gadfly Nick Auf der Maur." — Anthony Wilson-Smith, The Monumental Mayor, Maclean's (Toronto), Aug 23, 1999.

---

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - bremse

Nederlands (Dutch)
steekvlieg, zeurpiet

Français (French)
n. - taon, (fig) casse-pieds

Deutsch (German)
n. - Stechfliege, Bremse

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (εντομ.) οίστρος, αλογόμυγα, τσιμπούρι

Italiano (Italian)
tafano

Português (Portuguese)
n. - mutuca (f) (Zool.), pessoa (f) irritante ou enfadonha

Русский (Russian)
овод, навязчивый человек

Español (Spanish)
n. - tábano, persona criticona o pedigüeña

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - broms (zool.), styng, retsticka

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
形似苍蝇, 讨厌的人, 牛蝇

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 形似蒼蠅, 討厭的人, 牛蠅

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 귀찮게 구는 사람, 등에

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - アブ, 小うるさい人

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) شخص مزعج, ذبابه الخيل والماشيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮זבוב הבקר, מנדנד בביקורתו, מחפש פגמים‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.