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• orthodox
  orthodox

  adjective

  of, relating to, or conforming to the approved form of any doctrine, philosophy, ideology, etc.
• Orthodox
  Orthodox

  adjective

  of or relating to the Orthodox Church of the East

orthodox

American  

[awr-thuh-doks] / ˈɔr θəˌdɒks /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or conforming to the approved form of any doctrine, philosophy, ideology, etc.

2. of, relating to, or conforming to beliefs, attitudes, or modes of conduct that are generally approved.

3. customary or conventional, as a means or method; established.

   Synonyms:

   fixed, routine, commonplace, traditional

4. sound or correct in opinion or doctrine, especially theological or religious doctrine.

5. conforming to the Christian faith as represented in the creeds of the early church.

6. Orthodox,

   1. of, relating to, or designating the Eastern Church, especially the Greek Orthodox Church.

   2. of, relating to, or characteristic of Orthodox Jews or Orthodox Judaism.

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Orthodox ¹ British  

/ ˈɔːθəˌdɒks /

adjective

1. of or relating to the Orthodox Church of the East

2. (sometimes not capital)

   1. of or relating to Orthodox Judaism

   2. (of an individual Jew) strict in the observance of Talmudic law and in personal devotions

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orthodox ² British  

/ ˈɔːθəˌdɒks /

adjective

1. conforming with established or accepted standards, as in religion, behaviour, or attitudes

2. conforming to the Christian faith as established by the early Church

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Other Word Forms

• orthodoxness
  noun
• antiorthodox
  adjective
• hyperorthodox
  adjective
• nonorthodox
  adjective
• pro-orthodox
  adjective
• semiorthodox
  adjective
• ultraorthodox
  adjective
• unorthodox
  adjective
• antiorthodoxly
  adverb
• nonorthodoxly
  adverb
• orthodoxly
  adverb
• semiorthodoxly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of orthodox

First recorded in 1575–85; from Late Latin orthodoxus “right in religion,” from Late Greek orthódoxos, equivalent to ortho- ortho- + dóx(a) “belief, opinion” + -os adjective suffix

Explanation

Orthodox practices or beliefs are generally accepted as true or correct. If you are an orthodox vegetarian, you never, ever eat meat — not like those people who have fish once in a while. When capitalized, Orthodox is the name of the Eastern Church, originally distinguished by its doctrinal differences from the other divisions of the Christian Church. Orthodox is also the name of the branch of Judaism that strictly follows traditional beliefs and customs, derived from orthodox in the earlier meaning of "strictly observant."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

orthodox Orthodox

To be sure, polls put Mélenchon far behind Marine Le Pen of the National Rally, who just released a more orthodox plan to reduce the deficit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

It isn’t unusual to see hippy travelers, families in orthodox clothing and women in hijab on flights that also typically teem with kids.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Calvin Bassey: Not the easiest game positionally as Manchester United played without an orthodox centre-forward.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

Arguments that Burger and Bork dismissed as fringe advocacy became orthodox within conservative legal circles.

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026

This was contrary to orthodox Aristotelian philosophy, which said that there could be no such thing as a vacuum.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Gender segregation is standard practice for many Orthodox Jews but is forbidden in public places by the government of socially liberal Tel Aviv.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

Robert Briscoe, who was both a celebrated Irish revolutionary and an Orthodox Jew, became lord mayor of Dublin in the 1950s.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

Overall, 73% of all Orthodox Jews, and 58% of Modern Orthodox Jews, claim they feel God’s presence in their lives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

When he was a seventh-grader in 1997, President Clinton visited the campus of Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy, a Modern Orthodox K-8 school he attended in his hometown of Livingston, N.J.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

It was, after all, a car chase between a Greek Orthodox priest and a middle-aged Republican.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides