heretic

American  

[her-i-tik, her-i-tik, huh-ret-ik] / ˈhɛr ɪ tɪk, ˈhɛr ɪ tɪk, həˈrɛt ɪk /

noun

• heretics
  plural

1. 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

2. Roman Catholic Church. a baptized Roman Catholic who willfully and persistently rejects any article of faith.

3. anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.

   Synonyms:

   freethinker, skeptic, dissenter

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adjective

1. heretical.

heretic British  

/ ˈhɛrətɪk /

noun

1. RC Church a person who maintains beliefs contrary to the established teachings of the Church

2. a person who holds unorthodox opinions in any field

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heretic Cultural  

1. One who challenges the doctrines of an established church (see also established church). Martin Luther was proclaimed a heretic for rejecting many of the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• heretical
  adjective
• semiheretic
  adjective
• heretically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• heretics
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

heretic heretics

It is set at a biographical turning point: 1147, when Hildegard’s transcribed visions were submitted to the pope, who would declare her either a prophet or a heretic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026

And he doesn't necessarily hope to, he said, which "makes me a bit of a heretic."

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2024

Pearson was shunned by other evangelical leaders, branded a heretic and later became a United Church of Christ minister.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 20, 2023

It drew the ire of Yalqun Rozi, a prominent Uyghur writer and critic who branded him a heretic in scathing reviews.

From New York Times ● Sep. 14, 2022

“Really? What am I going to say now? He winks at me. “You think I’m a brute, a heretic, a—” “A crackpot,” I complete for him.

From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon

While a handful of moderate dissidents are tacitly tolerated as a matter of expedience, most other heretics have been driven from the tent.

From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2026

Mr. Persico mentions that Martin Luther hated Jews and persecuted heretics, and he acknowledges that Locke excluded Catholics and atheists from toleration.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025

He taught an essential lesson by asserting that religious and political people alike were divided between those who hunted for heretics and those who sought converts.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2022

They were considered heretics by IS, a Sunni jihadist group.

From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2021

All night, I slept with Gwenforte curled beside me, and my sleep was deeper than any I had had since my disaster with the heretics in Italy.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

Related Words

• dissenter
• schismatic