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heretic

[her-i-tik, her-i-tik, huh-ret-ik]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by their church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.
Synonyms: , , ,
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.
Synonyms: , ,

adjective

heretical.

heretic

/ ˈhɛrətɪk, hɪˈrɛtɪkəl /

noun

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

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.

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Other Word Forms

semiheretic adjective
��ˈ��پ�� adverb
heretical adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of heretic¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English heretik from Middle French heretique from Late Latin haereticus from Greek �󲹾��پ��ó�� “able to choose” ( Late Greek: “heretical”), equivalent to �󲹾��(ó��) “that may be taken” (verbal adjective of �󲹾��î�� “to choose”) + -ikos -ic

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Instead, he’s weaponizing bigotry to remake the U.S. military as a scorched-earth, hetero-Christian outfit ready to stamp out liberal heretics here and abroad.

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A close watch of the videos suggests people looked fine in their former lives as heretics.

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I’m not even allowed to be here because I’m a heretic!

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He had turned his back on Islam, making himself a heretic in the eyes of many.

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

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Related Words

dissenter��
schismatic��

heresy heretical

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