heretic

[ noun her-i-tik; adjective her-i-tik, huh-ret-ik ]

noun

1. a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by their church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.

   Synonyms: backslider, Protestant, recreant, apostate

2. Roman Catholic Church. a baptized Roman Catholic who willfully and persistently rejects any article of faith.
3. anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.

   Synonyms: freethinker, skeptic, dissenter

adjective

1. heretical.

heretic

/ ˈhɛrətɪk; hɪˈrɛtɪkəl /

noun

1. RC Church a person who maintains beliefs contrary to the established teachings of the Church
2. a person who holds unorthodox opinions in any field

heretic

1. One who challenges the doctrines of an established church (see also established church ). Martin Luther was proclaimed a heretic for rejecting many of the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church .

Derived Forms

• heˈretically, adverb
• heretical, adjective

Other Words From

• semi·here·tic adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of heretic¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English heretik from Middle French heretique from Late Latin haereticus from Greek hairetikós “able to choose” ( Late Greek: “heretical”), equivalent to hairet(ós) “that may be taken” (verbal adjective of haireîn “to choose”) + -ikos -ic

Example Sentences

And he doesn't necessarily hope to, he said, which "makes me a bit of a heretic."

From Salon

It is a field of study that the modern-day heretics who have signed the New York Declaration claim has been neglected, even ridiculed.

From BBC

He made waves in 2019 when he rescinded a pair of controversial rules banning baptisms for the children of gay parents and branding same-sex couples as heretics who could face excommunication.

From Seattle Times

Trump’s many critics and prosecutors are just heretics trying to lead them astray.

From Salon

The show is set in 1600, as Europeans have been waging centuries of brutal religious warfare and burning heretics alive.

From New York Times

Related Words

• dissenter
• schismatic