heretic
Americannoun
-
a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by their church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.
- Synonyms:
- Protestant, recreant, backslider, apostate
-
Roman Catholic Church. a baptized Roman Catholic who willfully and persistently rejects any article of faith.
-
anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.
- Synonyms:
- freethinker, skeptic, dissenter
adjective
noun
-
RC Church a person who maintains beliefs contrary to the established teachings of the Church
-
a person who holds unorthodox opinions in any field
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of heretic
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
Explanation
If your friend became interested in Hinduism, with its many gods and rituals, her Catholic mother might be worried that her daughter was a heretic, or a person whose religious beliefs are in contrast to the fundamental beliefs of her church. The noun heretic is mostly used in a religious context to talk about someone whose actions or beliefs act against the laws, rules, or beliefs of some specific religion. However, heretic can also be used in a non-religious way to mean "someone whose ideas go against the norm." Say your regular hangout is a cowboy honky-tonk and most of your friends play in country bands; you might be considered a heretic if you announced that your favorite kind of music is actually opera.
Vocabulary lists containing heretic
1984
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Much Ado About Nothing
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The Suffix -ic, Part 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Hugh Grant's nomination in the lead actor category for horror film Heretic, and Saoirse Ronan as leading actress for The Outrun, are among some of the surprises.
From BBC • Jan. 15, 2025
Even during the worst of the pandemic, Heretic House hosted as many as 10 events a month, Clark said.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 5, 2021
In this case, that happened four years after the original movie's release with 1977's "The Exorcist II: The Heretic," which again featured Linda Blair and Max von Sydow.
From Salon • Sep. 20, 2021
Apparently the idea for the candle, made by Heretic, originally started out as a joke.
From Fox News • Jan. 11, 2020
The Christian virtues, so far as we can see, flower impartially in the souls of Catholic and Protestant, of Churchman and Schismatic, of Orthodox and Heretic.
From Outspoken Essays by Inge, William Ralph
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
