heretic

[noun her-i-tik; adjective her-i-tik, huh-ret-ik]

See more synonyms for heretic on Thesaurus.com

noun

a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by his or her church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.
Roman Catholic Church. a baptized Roman Catholic who willfully and persistently rejects any article of faith.
anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.

adjective

heretical.

Origin of heretic

1300–50; Middle English heretik < Middle French heretique < Late Latin haereticus < Greek hairetikós able to choose (Late Greek: heretical), equivalent to hairet(ós) that may be taken (verbal adjective of haireîn to choose) + -ikos -ic

Related formssem·i·her·e·tic, adjective, noun

Synonyms for heretic

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1. apostate, backslider, recreant, protestant. 3. dissenter, skeptic, freethinker.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for heretic

skeptic, apostate, pagan, sectarian, cynic

Examples from the Web for heretic

Contemporary Examples of heretic

Her latest book, Heretic: The Case for a Muslim Reformation, will be published in April by HarperCollins.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Our Duty Is to Keep Charlie Hebdo Alive
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
January 8, 2015
In a 2009 profile of the right-wing firebrand, The New Yorker called Savage “a heretic among heretics.”
The Godfather of Right-Wing Radio
Caitlin Dickson
November 23, 2014
So how is she going to live in this society where you die for being a heretic?
Philippa Gregory: How I Write
Noah Charney
July 24, 2013
The Heretic Andrew Ferguson, The Weekly Standard Who is Thomas Nagel and why are so many of his fellow academics condemning him?
The Week’s Best Longreads for March 23, 2013
David Sessions
March 23, 2013
As is so often the case in religious history, it is the heretic who shows the weakness of the believer.
Bad Faith on Two States
Shaul Magid
June 4, 2012

Historical Examples of heretic

And first, Mr. Blindman, the foreman, said: I see clearly that this man is a heretic.
Bunyan
James Anthony Froude
Doctors of divinity said, "He is a heretic; he contradicts the Bible."
Christopher Columbus and His Monument Columbia
Various
People of the only true faith cannot bear to be governed by a heretic nation.
Ireland as It Is
Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)
So long as a heretic power is at the head, so long Ireland will be discontented.
Ireland as It Is
Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)
Heretic he may be, but he has the trust of Ramon Rotil, and of me.
The Treasure Trail
Marah Ellis Ryan

British Dictionary definitions for heretic

heretic

noun

mainly RC Church a person who maintains beliefs contrary to the established teachings of the Church
a person who holds unorthodox opinions in any field

Derived Formsheretical (hɪˈrɛtɪkəl), adjectiveheretically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for heretic

mid-14c., from Old French eretique (14c., Modern French hérétique), from Church Latin haereticus, from Greek hairetikos "able to choose," the verbal adjective of hairein (see heresy).

heretic in Culture

heretic

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.