1
as in dissenter
a person who believes, teaches, or advocates something opposed to accepted beliefs
Galileo was condemned as a heretic for supporting Copernicus's thesis that the earth revolves around the sun and not vice versa
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in maverick
a person who does not conform to generally accepted standards or customs
he's the ultimate heretic: a Yankees fan living deep in the heart of the Red Sox Nation
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of heretic
His 1559 index counted any books written by people the church deemed heretics – anyone not speaking dogma, in the widest sense.
—
Joëlle Rollo-Koster, The Conversation, 28 Mar. 2025
His 1559 index counted any books written by people the church deemed heretics – anyone not speaking dogma, in the widest sense.
—Joëlle Rollo-Koster, The Conversation, 28 Mar. 2025
The show is set in 15th century Europe at a time of inquisition, a time when heretics are burned at the stake and it is essentially forbidden to look at the stars.
—Rafael Motamayor, IndieWire, 15 Mar. 2025
By 1120, the church council in Jerusalem ordered that sodomites, like heretics, be burned at the stake.
—S. C. Cornell, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heretic
Joëlle Rollo-Koster, The Conversation, 28 Mar. 2025
His 1559 index counted any books written by people the church deemed heretics – anyone not speaking dogma, in the widest sense.
—Joëlle Rollo-Koster, The Conversation, 28 Mar. 2025
The show is set in 15th century Europe at a time of inquisition, a time when heretics are burned at the stake and it is essentially forbidden to look at the stars.
—Rafael Motamayor, IndieWire, 15 Mar. 2025
By 1120, the church council in Jerusalem ordered that sodomites, like heretics, be burned at the stake.
—S. C. Cornell, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heretic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heretic
Noun
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King’s Chapel was established in 1683 as the first Anglican church in New England, which was settled starting in 1620 by dissenters who wanted a theocracy and religion shorn of folderol, cant, and the stink of popes and kings.—
Brian T. Allen,
National Review,
19 July 2025
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Trump, meanwhile, is urging his party to fall in line and lashing out at dissenters such as Tillis and Rep. Thomas Massie, who voted against the legislation in the House.—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
2 July 2025
Noun
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Ballard is a maverick who’s been demoted to assembling a volunteer team, literally in the basement, to review cold case files.—
Stephen Schaefer,
Boston Herald,
6 July 2025
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Car chases were as reliable a trope as the maverick officer with his own moral code mouthing off to superiors, or the battle-scarred veteran who’s seen it all and just wants to eat donuts and make it to retirement.—
Maris Kreizman,
Rolling Stone,
24 June 2025
Noun
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And, of course, my fantasy went right to some kind of renegade character along the lines of Saw Gerrera.—
Dalton Ross,
EW.com,
16 May 2025
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The director Doris Wishman was a renegade: a woman who made lurid exploitation films at a time when American underground cinema was a man’s playground.—
Erik Piepenburg,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
Noun
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Just milk, chocolate syrup and seltzer, though iconoclasts argue that vanilla syrup is acceptable, too.—
Liza Weisstuch,
Smithsonian Magazine,
12 June 2025
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The iconoclast behind SpaceX, Tesla, DOGE and more set out to incorporate the area around his Starship rocket launch facility near what was previously known as Boca Chica beach and village over four years ago.—
Eric Mack,
Forbes.com,
5 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Heretic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heretic. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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