maverick
noun

- a person who thinks and acts in an independent way, often behaving differently from the expected or usual way

Cambridge Dictionaries Online

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ORIGIN

Samuel Augustus Maverick (July 23, 1803 – September 2, 1870) was a Texas lawyer, politician, land baron, and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Maverick established a cattle ranch on the Matagorda Peninsula about 50 miles south of San Antonio. The cattle were branded before the transfer, but they were wild, the range was open, and they soon strayed from their new home.

After a couple of years and having no real interest in cattle, Maverick sold the herd for $6 a head. But the roundup was difficult. While the cattle had lived on the Matagorda Ranch, many calves had been born and none of them had been branded. The neighbours began referring to the stray, unbranded calves as “Maverick’s”.

Sam Maverick never owned cattle again in his life, but Texas cowboys never called unbranded cattle by any other name.

Gradually the term was expanded to include anyone who could not be trusted to remain one of his group.

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SYNONYMS

bad boy, bad girl, dissenter, enfant terrible, free-spirit, iconoclast, individualist, loner, lone ranger, lone wolf, malcontent, non-conformist, radical, rebel, rogue, rule-breaker

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Practice OWAD in an English conversation, say something like:

“Entrepreneurs are typically called MAVERICKS,... before they are successful.”

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Paul Smith