infidel
[in-fi-dl, -del]
- Religion.
- a person who does not accept a particular faith, especially Christianity.
- (in Christian use) an unbeliever, especially a Muslim.
- (in Muslim use) a person who does not accept the Islamic faith; kafir(def 2).
- a person who has no religious faith; unbeliever.
- (loosely) a person who disbelieves or doubts a particular theory, belief, creed, etc.; skeptic.
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- not accepting a particular faith, especially Christianity or Islam; heathen.
- without religious faith.
- due to or manifesting unbelief: infidel ideas.
- rejecting the Christian religion while accepting no other; not believing in the Bible or any Christian divine revelation.
- Also in·fi·del·ic [in-fi-del-ik] /ˌɪn fɪˈdɛl ɪk/. of, relating to, or characteristic of unbelievers or infidels.
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Origin of infidel
Synonym study
1–3. See agnostic.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for infidel
Contemporary Examples
Leaflets were widely distributed during that era saying that facial covering was what separated the Muslim woman from the infidel.
Saudi Activist Manal Al-Sharif on Why She Removed the VeilManal Al Sharif, Advancing Human Rights
October 30, 2014
It is immaterial if the infidel is a combatant or a civilian.
Safi makes the same threat toward other villagers and warns them never again to help a wounded “infidel” soldier.
From inside the apartment, he could hear people calling him an infidel and debating whether to kill him on the spot.
I was, of course, a woman; I was an infidel; and I was alone.
Historical Examples
Already a Christian, could she hope for the success of the infidel?
Leila, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
His wife could not help the sudden thought, "But if we had had an infidel or agnostic son?"
The Coryston FamilyMrs. Humphry Ward
Let them boast of their Moorish gallantry and their infidel marriages—a fig for them!
Gomez AriasJoaqun Telesforo de Trueba y Coso
It represented the triumph of the Papacy over the infidel of all dates.
A Writer's Recollections (In Two Volumes), Volume IMrs. Humphry Ward
She must have been a bad one like her brother, who was an infidel, they say, and did not know or fear God.
The Book of KhalidAmeen Rihani
infidel
- a person who has no religious belief; unbeliever
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- rejecting a specific religion, esp Christianity or Islam
- of, characteristic of, or relating to unbelievers or unbelief
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Word Origin
C15: from Medieval Latin infidēlis, from Latin (adj): unfaithful, from in- 1 + fidēlis faithful; see feal
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for infidel
mid-15c. (adjective and noun), from Middle French infidèle, from Latin infidelis "unfaithful, not to be trusted," later "unbelieving," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + fidelis "faithful" (see fidelity). In 15c. "a non-Christian" (especially a Saracen); later "one who does not believe in religion" (1520s). Also used to translate Arabic qafir, which is from a root meaning "to disbelieve, to deny," strictly referring to all non-Muslims but virtually synonymous with "Christian;" hence, from a Muslim or Jewish point of view, "a Christian" (1530s; see kaffir).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper