maverick

MAV-uh-rik/ˈmævəɹɪk/

8 meanings of maverick

1
rule breakernouncountable
An unconventional person who does not follow the rules, or one who creates or uses controversial, unorthodox ideas or practices.
She was a maverick on the city council, voting with neither party on most issues.
The tech industry loves to celebrate mavericks who ignore conventional wisdom and build companies their own way.
Similarnonconformist, individualist, rebel
Oppositeconformist
Note
Politics has long been a home for the noun: a voter in Collier's in 1924 calls himself a maverick because he belongs to no party, and legislators who break with their own side still earn the label. Self-styled maverick shows its double edge, a badge some wear proudly and others use to mock.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
A voter in Collier’s in 1924 calls himself a maverick because he belongs to no political party; Wiktionary dates the passage to May 3, 1924, page 38. en.wiktionary.org
2
adjective
Independent in thought or action, rather than following what others think or do.
The senator's maverick streak made her hard for party leaders to control.
A maverick director, he shot the whole film on his phone.
Similarindependent, unconventional, nonconformist, unorthodox, individualistic
Oppositeconventional, conformist, orthodox
Note
The ranch picture carries straight over: a maverick decision or thinker wears no one's brand. The adjective is often admiring, as in a maverick attitude to research, but it has a darker side; Leon Claire Metz's Encyclopedia of Lawmen, Outlaws, and Gunfighters (2003) describes the maverick person as wild, unsettled and irresponsible. Context decides which is meant.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
Leon Claire Metz wrote The Encyclopedia of Lawmen, Outlaws, and Gunfighters. openlibrary.org
Metz describes a maverick person as tending to be wild, unsettled and irresponsible. en.wiktionary.org
3
stray calfnouncountable
An animal on the open range, such as a calf, that carries no owner's brand.
The cowhands rounded up a dozen mavericks along the creek and drove them to the corral.
Each spring the ranchers argued over who had the right to brand a maverick found on shared land.
Similarstray
Note
In 1872 W. G. Kingsbury still explained the noun in a footnote for his readers. Many mavericks were "orphan calves", and The National Live-stock Journal of 1884 records the old custom of branding them for whoever owned that part of the range. In O. Henry's story "A Call Loan", Long Bill rises from cowboy to cowman partly on "a telescopic eye for mavericks".
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
W. G. Kingsbury explained the noun in a footnote. en.wiktionary.org
Many mavericks were described as orphan calves. en.wiktionary.org
The National Live-stock Journal's 1884 volume records the custom of branding mavericks for the owner of the part of the range where they were found. en.wiktionary.org
O. Henry wrote the story "A Call Loan". gutenberg.org
The narrator describes Long Bill's rise from cowboy to cowman using the exact phrase "a telescopic eye for mavericks". gutenberg.org

Less common meanings

4
adjective
Of cattle, carrying no owner's brand.
Ranchers once competed to claim the maverick cattle wandering the open range.
The roundup turned up forty head of maverick stock, and no one could prove who owned them.
Similarunbranded
Oppositebranded
Note
The word is a man's name: Samuel Maverick (1803–1870), a Texas lawyer and politician, left many of his cattle unbranded, and unbranded stock came to bear his name. As an adjective it is used of cattle, almost always in the phrase maverick cattle, the animals ranchers and lawmakers argued over through the 1870s and 1880s.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts
Samuel Maverick lived from 1803 to 1870. scencyclopedia.org
Samuel Maverick was a Texas lawyer and politician. en.wiktionary.org
The refusal story is misleading: historical accounts describe neglect, and some of his calves were branded. scencyclopedia.org
The cattle noun derives from Maverick's surname and his unbranded cattle. upload.wikimedia.org
Unbranded cattle generally came to be called mavericks. en.wiktionary.org
Maverick cattle were the subject of disputes involving ranchers and lawmakers during the 1870s and 1880s. tshaonline.org
5
claim cattleverbUStransitive
To take an unbranded animal found on the open range, or more generally to seize anything without a legal claim to it.
The foreman warned the new hands not to maverick any calves found near the boundary fence.
Old-timers said he had built his first herd by mavericking calves along the river bottoms.
Note
This American ranch verb is made from the unbranded animal: to maverick a calf or yearling was to take one that bore no brand. Because no mark proved whose it was, the line between fair claiming and theft was thin, and the verb could end up in court, as in A. M. Jackson's law reports of 1887, over a yearling that may have been mavericked.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
The American ranching verb corresponds to the noun meaning an unbranded animal. en.wiktionary.org
Claiming and branding unbranded cattle could produce disputes about theft. tile.loc.gov
A. M. Jackson was a reporter responsible for the cited reports. catalog.hathitrust.org
The reports describe a court case involving a yearling allegedly mavericked. en.wiktionary.org
6
nounslangUS
In US military slang, a commissioned officer who began their career as an enlisted member; a mustang.
7
noun
Anything that has been obtained by dishonest means.
8
nounslang
In Texas hold 'em, a starting hand made up of a queen and a jack.

Practice

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Origin

The word takes its name from Samuel Maverick (1803–1870), a lawyer and politician in Texas who would not brand his cattle. Its poker sense, a starting hand of a queen and a jack in Texas hold 'em, may come from the theme song of Maverick, a US Western television series (1957–1962) whose hero is described in the lyrics as "livin' on jacks and queens".

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 9 facts

The word derives from Samuel Maverick's name. thealamo.org
Samuel Maverick lived from 1803 to 1870. en.wikipedia.org
Maverick was a lawyer and politician in Texas. tshaonline.org
Maverick refused to brand his cattle. en.wikipedia.org
The poker sense denotes a queen and a jack as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em. en.wiktionary.org
The poker name may derive from the television show's theme song. en.wikipedia.org
Maverick was an American Western television series. en.wikipedia.org
The television series originally ran from 1957 to 1962. en.wikipedia.org
The theme lyrics describe Maverick as “livin' on jacks and queens”. en.wikipedia.org