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, hɪˈrɛtɪkəl /

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

This was a genius-level insight that caused Thiel to be hounded out of San Francisco as a heretic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025

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

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2024

Before his peers would label him a heretic, the late Bishop Carlton D. Pearson was once one of the best known preachers in the nation.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 2, 2023

I’m going to be a heretic, though, and say that you don’t need to read the whole thing.

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2022

“Anthony, we seem to have found a courteous heretic, how strange and wonderful! We should sell him to a Ruh troupe; in a way he resembles a talking dog.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

The most riveting parts of “Mobilize” are those that bring Mr. Sankar’s heretics to life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

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

When we left the room, Coleman muttered, "The problem is they do not believe in heretics."

From Salon ● Jun. 28, 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