Dictionary

lunatic fringe en · NOUN

Etymology

The figurative sense was popularized by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, originally in reference to Cubist and Futurist art.

Meanings

1. (archaic, historical) A woman's hairstyle in which the hair is cut square across the forehead.
2. A minority political or social group espousing extreme, fanatical, or irrational views.
   • Among the wise and high-minded people who in self-respecting and genuine fashion strive earnestly for peace, there are the foolish fanatics always to be found in such a movement and always discrediting it — the men who form the lunatic fringe in all reform movements. 1913, Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt — An Autobiography, ch. VII, page 211:

Forms

Translations (1)

de Narrensaum (Translations)