apostatize
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
Usage
What does apostatize mean? Apostatize means to totally abandon or reject one’s religion. It can also be used in a slightly more general way to mean to totally abandon or reject one’s principles, cause, party, or other organization. The act of doing so is called apostasy, and someone who does so can be called an apostate. These words typically imply that before the rejection, one had a strong connection or involvement. They are all usually used in a way that’s critical of such abandonment—or that at least implies that others who remain in the religion or cause are critical of the departure. Apostasy is sometimes used more specifically to refer to a rejection of Christianity, but apostasy and apostatize are also used in the context of other religions, such as Islam. Example: The pastor’s sermon condemned those who apostatize—the trouble is, the apostates weren’t there to hear it.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of apostatize
From the Late Latin word apostatīzāre, dating back to 1545–55. See apostate, -ize
Explanation
To apostatize is to give up a belief. Your best friend may do her best to sway you to change your basketball allegiance from the Celtics to the Lakers, but you refuse to apostatize. When someone renounces their religious principles, leaving one faith for another or ceasing to believe at all, they apostatize. The Latin root, apostata, means "one who forsakes religion or faith." This is the most common way to use this verb, but it also works well for changes in political belief: "I never thought he'd apostatize, but he's now a registered Democrat."
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.
See Examples For:
The conundrum is one that has nothing to do with Rodrigues’s decision whether to lay down his life, but with his reluctance to apostatize, even in the face of others’ deaths.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 5, 2017
How could men apostatize from a cause which they had served with unflinching fidelity until it was completely triumphant?
From Political Recollections 1840 to 1872 by Julian, George W.
He had made Phocyas apostatize from his religion; after which the abhorrence of Eudocia would have been reasonable, his misery would have been just, and the horrours of his repentance exemplary.
From Lives of the Poets, Volume 1 by Johnson, Samuel
He certainly kept in the Church many Catholics who were ready to apostatize.
From Saint Augustin by O'Sullivan, Vincent
Is this the man likely to apostatize from every principle that can bind him to the State—his birth, his property, his education, his character, and his children?
From Irish Wit and Humor Anecdote Biography of Swift, Curran, O'Leary and O'Connell by Anonymous
He carried them back, and on arriving in Iowa Territory he burned them, at which time he apostatized and left the Church.
From Life of Heber C. Kimball, an Apostle The Father and Founder of the British Mission by Whitney, Orson F.
A comparison between this edition and the later edition of 1577 brings out the interesting circumstance that many Huguenots of little courage, who at first apostatized, afterward returned to their old faith.
From History of the Rise of the Huguenots Volume 2 by Baird, Henry Martyn
In the case of converts in health there was far more preparation; yet these often apostatized.
From Historic Handbook of the Northern Tour by Parkman, Francis
When the kings of Judah apostatized, while the individuals were punished, the race was spared.
From Notable Women of Olden Time by Anonymous
It was a dark hour around the Prophet in Kirtland, many having apostatized, and some of them prominent Elders, when Brother Kimball and some others were called upon to take a mission to England.
From Life of Heber C. Kimball, an Apostle The Father and Founder of the British Mission by Whitney, Orson F.
Therefore we ought not to refuse allegiance to a sovereign on account of his apostatizing from the faith.
From Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint
Every opportunity was given for apostatizing and for escaping death.
From A History of the Japanese People From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era by Brinkley, F. (Frank)
Let us just see, in reference not to mere words, but to things, what can be truly meant by the terms ‘apostate or apostatizing Government,’ as applied to the Government of Great Britain.
From Leading Articles on Various Subjects by Davidson, John
The term apostate, or apostatizing, can have only an official meaning.
From Leading Articles on Various Subjects by Davidson, John
The first is the movement of the free-will towards God, and is an act of faith quickened by charity; and against this a man acts by apostatizing from the faith.
From Summa Theologica, Part III (Tertia Pars) From the Complete American Edition by Thomas, Aquinas, Saint
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.
