heathen
Americannoun
plural
heathens, heathen-
(in historical contexts) a member of a people that do not acknowledge the God of the Bible; a pagan.
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Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive.
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a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim.
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an irreligious, uncultured, or uncivilized person.
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adjective
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(in historical contexts) of or relating to heathens; pagan.
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Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive.
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relating to a religion, person, or culture that is not Christian, Jewish, or Muslim.
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irreligious, uncultured, or uncivilized.
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noun
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a person who does not acknowledge the God of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam; pagan
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an uncivilized or barbaric person
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(functioning as plural) heathens collectively
adjective
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irreligious; pagan
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unenlightened; uncivilized; barbaric
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of or relating to heathen peoples or their religious, moral, and other customs, practices, and beliefs
Related Words
See pagan.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of heathen
First recorded before 900; Middle English hethen, Old English hǣthen, akin to German Heide, heidnisch (adjective), Old Norse heithingi (noun), heithinn (adjective), Gothic haithno (noun); perhaps akin to heath
Explanation
If you don't believe in God — or if you contradict other beliefs of a religion — you are a heathen. There are plenty of nonbelievers, but a heathen is something more — someone who is actively offensive to a religion. The term is tied to the Gods of Judaism, Christianity and Islam; someone who rejects the various gods of Hinduism, for example, is not likely to be called a heathen. Heathens are sometimes called infidels and pagans. These days, the term is often used humorously. An atheist might jokingly refer to herself as a heathen.
Vocabulary lists containing heathen
"Beowulf," Vocabulary from the epic poem
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"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from all 4 Acts
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 20–25
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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.
With the passage of centuries, the Eurocentric accounts that depicted Cortés as a heroic “white savior” and Moctezuma as a cowardly heathen have been eclipsed.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 24, 2025
We don't use the term heathen much anymore, but that doesn't mean the ideas underlying this binary view of the world have disappeared.
From Salon • Jul. 4, 2022
“I joked that since I didn’t get the religious one I must be a heathen or something,” he said.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 18, 2021
In Bell’s Funkadelic Universe, he wasn’t just an illustrator but an “electric marker heathen of speedomatic dabblings,” as he titled himself on the album “One Nation Under a Groove.”
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 28, 2019
I remembered Aunty Ifeoma’s words from the day before, about Papa-Nnuwku being a traditionalist and not a heathen.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
