maverick
ma·ve·rick/ˈmævəɹɪk/adjective, noun, verb
maverick is spelled M-A-V-E-R-I-C-K: 8 letters and 3 syllables (ma·ve·rick). It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, maverick means “Unbranded” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in maverick?
| Letters | 8: M-A-V-E-R-I-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ma·ve·rick |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 18,811th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is maverick?
Maverick appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce maverick?
- UK /ˈmævəɹɪk/
- US /ˈmævəɹɪk/
Maverick has 3 syllables, split ma·ve·rick in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-maverick.ogg, En-au-maverick.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of maverick
- more maverick comparative
- most maverick superlative
- mavericks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- mavericking participle, present
- mavericked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does maverick mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Unbranded.
- 2
Showing independence in thoughts or actions.
He made a maverick decision. She is such a maverick person.
noun
- 1
An unbranded range animal.
- 2
Anything dishonestly obtained.
- 3
One who is unconventional or does not abide by rules.
Among historians he was a maverick because of his belief that history is meaningless.
- 4
One who creates or uses controversial or unconventional ideas or practices.
- 5
A person in the military who became an officer by going to college while on active duty as an enlisted person.
- 6
slangA queen and a jack as a starting hand in Texas hold ’em.
verb
- 1
USTo take an unbranded range animal.
- 2
To seize without a legal claim.
noun
- 1
A member of one of the sports teams with a mascot called Maverick.
- 2
Someone who attends, or has attended in the past, one of these schools, especially one involved in the sports teams.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Maverick in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | orejano , rebelde, disidente, independiente , cimarrón , excéntrico |
| French | individualiste , dissident , anticonformiste, excentrique, franc-tireur, non-conformiste |
| German | individualistisch, eigenwillig , mutterloses Kalb, Tier ohne Brandzeichen , Querkopf, Individualist |
| Portuguese | independente, rebelde , inconformista, excêntrico, excêntrica, dissidente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does maverick come from?
Named after Texan lawyer and politician Samuel Maverick (1803–1870), who refused to brand his cattle. For probable origin and meaning, see Maverick. The poker noun sense (“a queen and a jack as a starting hand in Texas hold ’em”) may be from the theme song of the US Western television series Maverick (1957–1962), which says of the eponymous protagonist that “[g]amblin’ is his game” and that he is “livin’ on jacks and queens”.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).