iconoclast

American  

[ahy-kon-uh-klast] / aɪˈkɒn əˌklæst /

noun

1. a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition.

   Synonyms:

   radical, dissenter, rebel, nonconformist

2. a breaker or destroyer of images, especially those set up for religious veneration.

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iconoclast British  

/ aɪˈkɒnəˌklæst /

noun

1. a person who attacks established or traditional concepts, principles, laws, etc

2. 1. a destroyer of religious images or sacred objects

   2. an adherent of the heretical movement within the Greek Orthodox Church from 725 to 842 _ad , which aimed at the destruction of icons and religious images

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• iconoclastically
  adverb
• iconoclastic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of iconoclast

1590–1600; < Medieval Latin īconoclastēs < Medieval Greek eikonoklástēs, equivalent to Greek eikono- icono- + -klastēs breaker, equivalent to klas- (variant stem of klân to break) + -tēs agent noun suffix

Explanation

Are you always challenging the establishment? Or provoking popular thought by attacking traditions and institutions? Then you're definitely an iconoclast. To be called an iconoclast today is usually kind of cool — they're rugged individualists, bold thinkers who don't give a hoot what tradition calls for. But back in medieval Greece, the iconoclasts had a more thuggish reputation. Stemming from the Greek words eikon, meaning "image," and klastes, meaning "breaker," an iconoclast was someone who destroyed religious sculptures and paintings.

Example Sentences

Film rights to the book about the October 19, 2025 heist had been sold to the production company Iconoclast, the Flammarion publishing house said.

From Barron's • May 26, 2026

Robertson sold his music publishing, recorded interests and rights to his name, image and likeness for a reported $25 million to Iconoclast in 2022.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 9, 2023

"As beautiful as any girl around and never traded on that card. I loved that about her. Iconoclast," she said on social media.

From BBC • Jul. 27, 2023

Cohen came up with the word for the season seven episode "Lisa the Iconoclast," where Ms. Hoover tells Mrs. Krabappel that the slightly less fictitious "embiggen" is a "perfectly cromulent" word.

From Salon • Sep. 13, 2021

Tongue nor pen Can tell their beauty, O Iconoclast!

From An Ocean Tramp by McFee, William