Quick Vocab Question..?

Question

I couldn't really understand whether these two words (iconoclast and maverick) were synonyms, antonyms, or had nothing in common.

And I've checked a few websites, but I just don't understand...

Answer 1

synonyms

Answer 2

An iconoclast is someone who destroys icons. In the history of the Church it was literally someone who destroyed church icons. Today it's someone who verbalizes against the sacred cows of our society.
A maverick is simply an oddball, someone who calls his own shots and doesn't go along with the crowd. It's someone unlike anyone else.
A maverick is not necessarily an iconoclast but he coudl be. Steve McQueen was probably a maverick. Christopher Hitchens might be an iconoclast. He writes against Mother Teresa and God himself.
Close to where I live there is a surfing spot called Maverick's. The waves can be monsters and unlike anything else in the area. Surfers literally die on these waves.

Answer 3

They're synonyms, or near-synonyms. Both mean "non-conformist." However, an iconoclast (literally "image-breaker") is someone who likes to attack things society respects or holds dear, while a maverick (literally a calf that strays from the herd) simply goes his own way without necesarily making an issue of it.

Answer 4

I think maverick tends to be more lawless, outlaw type, and iconoclast would be making his own laws (which he would do by being outside the law as well, I guess)

I really don't know, I don't use these words much at all. But a friend from high school's nickname was Maverick, I think it was because of her car, something about an ejection seat?

Answer 5

An iconoclast attacks such things as ideas and institutions. The dictionary definition is:
i·con·o·clast /aɪˈkɒnəˌklæst/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ahy-kon-uh-klast] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a breaker or destroyer of images, esp. those set up for religious veneration.
2. a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition.
[Origin: 1590–1600; < ML Ä«conoclastés < MGk eikonoklástés, equiv. to Gk eikono- icono- + -klastés breaker, equiv. to klas- (var. s. of klân to break) + -tés agent n. suffix]

—Related forms
i·con·o·clas·tic, adjective
i·con·o·clas·ti·cal·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 2. nonconformist, rebel, dissenter, radical.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/iconoclast

A maverick is a person who Being independent in thought and action or exhibiting such independence.
The dictionary definition is:
mav·er·ick /ˈmævərɪk, ˈmævrɪk/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[mav-er-ik, mav-rik] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. Southwestern U.S. an unbranded calf, cow, or steer, esp. an unbranded calf that is separated from its mother.
2. a lone dissenter, as an intellectual, an artist, or a politician, who takes an independent stand apart from his or her associates.
3. (initial capital letter) an electro-optically guided U.S. air-to-ground tactical missile for destroying tanks and other hardened targets at ranges up to 15 mi. (24 km).
[Origin: 1865–70, Americanism; after Samuel A. Maverick (1803–70), Texas pioneer who left his calves unbranded]

—Synonyms 2. nonconformist, independent, loner.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/maverick

In short, they are synonyms, as they both deal with people who rebel or go against the current system.

Answer 6

they both mean that they don't agree with the usual norms and practices but iconoclast is more appropriate to be used when your subject is religion or culture.

maverick is when your subject is politics or governance.

Answer 7

I checked both words on dictionary.com and I'd say they are synonyms, both with meanings of nonconformist. Check it out