noun. A persistent irritating critic; a nuisance.

noun. One that acts as a provocative stimulus; a goad.

noun. Any of various flies, especially a warble fly, botfly, or horsefly, that bite or annoy livestock and other animals.

noun. The popular name of sundry flies which goad or sting domestic animals, as a breeze, breeze-fly, or horse-fly; specifically, a dipterous insect of the family Tabanidæ and suborder Brachycera, representing also a superfamily Hexachætæ.

noun. A common though erroneous name of sundry flies (bot-flies) of the family Œstridæ and genus Œstrus or Hippoderma, belonging to a different series of the great order Diptera from that of gadflies proper.

noun. Figuratively, one who is constantly going about; a mischievous or annoying gadabout.

noun. Any dipterous insect of the genus Oestrus, and allied genera of botflies.

noun. one of several small petrels of the genus Oestrelata.

noun. Any dipterous insect of the family Oestridae, commonly known as botflies.

noun. A horsefly: any of various species of fly, of the family Tabanidae, noted for buzzing about animals and sucking their blood.

noun. One who upsets the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by proving an irritant.

noun. One who merely irritates without making useful suggestions.

noun. A bloodsucker

noun. a persistently annoying person

noun. any of various large flies that annoy livestock

"Being a gadfly is certainly a role, and occasionally a helpful one."

american gadfly  black gadfly  black-striped gadfly  mexican gadfly  

audiovisual  drunk......feel  exactingness  fatso  gimmicky  

abettor  actuator  animator  breeze  cajoler