iconoclastic

[ahy-kon-uh-klas-tik]

adjective

1. attacking or ignoring cherished beliefs and long-held traditions, etc., as being based on error, superstition, or lack of creativity.

   an iconoclastic architect whose buildings are like monumental sculptures.

2. breaking or destroying images, especially those set up for religious veneration.

Other Word Forms

• iconoclastically adverb
• noniconoclastic adjective
• noniconoclastically adverb
• uniconoclastic adjective
• uniconoclastically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of iconoclastic¹

First recorded in 1640–45; iconoclast + -ic

Example Sentences

“I almost think the better the idea, and the more iconoclastic the investor, the more likely you will get screamed at by investors,” he said.

Read more on Literature

A similar “dream of getting rid of the collector as an evil decadent/bourgeois/imperial looter” drove the “iconoclastic wave” that began in the U.S. after the death of George Floyd in 2020.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Over the weekend, Institutional Shareholder Services, a firm that advises investors how to vote their shares, recommended against approving the 2025 pay award that Tesla’s board has proposed for its iconoclastic CEO.

Read more on Barron's

And yet, true to his core as an iconoclastic dreamer willing to risk everything for the sake of discovering the unknown, he still says, “It was worth it.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“It’s always been full of individuals who are a little iconoclastic and don’t do things the normal way.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• irreverent