Dictionary

lone gunman en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From the Warren Commission's lone gunman theory, that the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy was the work of a single individual, subsequently applied to numerous other political assassinations and shootings.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) An individual person who acts on his or her own initiative, without partners, especially one who has sole responsibility for doing something questionable, confidential, or iniquitous.
   • The Wilson family had been sorely conflicted because each member had gone off in his or her own direction, thinking that they were all lone gunmen. 2008, Lee Raffel, I Hate Conflict! Seven Steps to Resolving Differences with Anyone in Your Life, →ISBN, page 260:
   • Trial lawyers, always a colorful and eclectic bunch. . . . Most were lone gunmen too eccentric to keep much of a staff. 2008, John Grisham, The Appeal, →ISBN, pages 197–198:
   • He continues, "So when someone blows the whistle, the hospital has to start looking for a scapegoat. The hospital looks for the lone gunman—the individual, acting alone, acting counter to his training, who, through a gross act of incompetence . . . ." 2002, Jed Mercurio, Bodies, →ISBN, page 340:

Forms

Relateds

march to the beat of a different drum · scapegoat

Synonyms

rogue · maverick