heterodox
Americanadjective
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not in accordance with established or accepted doctrines or opinions, especially in theology; unorthodox.
-
holding unorthodox doctrines or opinions.
adjective
-
at variance with established, orthodox, or accepted doctrines or beliefs
-
holding unorthodox opinions
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of heterodox
1610–20; < Greek heteródoxos of another opinion, equivalent to hetero- hetero- + dóx ( a ) opinion (Compare dokeîn to think, suppose) + -os adj. suffix
Explanation
Heterodox is from the Greek root words heteros, meaning "the other," and doxa, meaning "opinion." The adjective heterodox was first applied to people who held a different religious opinion from the standard beliefs and teachings. Today, although the religious meaning remains, the adjective heterodox can describe someone who adheres to any atypical beliefs, such as scientists who buck the current thinking or politicians who do not toe the party line. The word can be a synonym of heretical, which describes someone with contrary beliefs. If you are a teacher with a heterodox teaching style, you may win over students but alarm your more traditional colleagues.
Vocabulary lists containing heterodox
World Religions
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "H"
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Wuthering Heights
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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.
In his book’s second half, Mr. Jentleson races through 20th-century Democratic history, attempting to show that in every case, the most successful Democratic politicians followed a heterodox path—from FDR to, of course, Bill Clinton.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Maybe there is hope after all for the rising generation of boys and men if even a heterodox public intellectual like Scott Galloway is willing to offer such traditional medicine for our contemporary male maladies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025
Proponents of Weiss’s promotion will argue that she’s simply championing free speech and heterodox thought.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2025
A play like Harrower’s “Blackbird,” too morally disquieting to be produced by the city’s risk-averse big-budget theaters, appealed to Flynn’s heterodox side.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024
He is slightly heterodox; what Germans call Kathedersozialist, and what even Maine would call downright Socialist.
From Letters of Lord Acton To Mary, Daughter of the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone by John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, Baron Acton
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
