1
as in dissident
deviating from commonly accepted beliefs or practices
a Christian clergyman with a very heterodox opinion on the divinity of Jesus
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in unconventional
not rigidly following established form, custom, or rules
her heterodox approach to teaching science initially met with some resistance from her peers
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Recent Examples of heterodox
At Sovereign House, Allen and Easton curated a list of heterodox, and sometimes controversial, speakers.
—
Emma Green, New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2025
The Free Press has won fans, and created plenty of fodder for critics, with heterodox columns and features.
—Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2025
White House officials disagreed that Trump’s China stance has fundamentally shifted from his first term, but did concede that the president has adopted a heterodox position compared to many of the hawks within the party.
—Christian Datoc, The Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2025
The restaurant’s choices, it should be noted, are heterodox.
—Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 29 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for heterodox
Emma Green, New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2025
The Free Press has won fans, and created plenty of fodder for critics, with heterodox columns and features.
—Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2025
White House officials disagreed that Trump’s China stance has fundamentally shifted from his first term, but did concede that the president has adopted a heterodox position compared to many of the hawks within the party.
—Christian Datoc, The Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2025
The restaurant’s choices, it should be noted, are heterodox.
—Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 29 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for heterodox
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heterodox
Adjective
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Many in Syria’s dissident circles at first found Bashar’s awkwardness and shyness appealing.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
6 Feb. 2026
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And anyone who dares to peek behind the curtain—journalists, dissident professors, activists, even, bizarrely, the Iranian president himself—becomes a threat to the regime.—
Azadeh Moaveni,
Time,
3 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Smith for some time has dangled the prospect of running as an unconventional candidate against a field of career politicians, but there’s a big gap between not ruling out a run and actually doing it.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
13 Feb. 2026
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Creative director Heginz Janvier transformed classic silhouettes such as trenchcoats and cargo pants into new offerings by creating them from technical fabrics and adding pockets in unconventional locations, such as above the ankles or on the waist.—
Jean E. Palmieri,
Footwear News,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Drunkenness, like madness, protects the messengers of heretical truth from disbelief, disdain, and retaliation.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
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This heretical policy gets some support from yet another rigid convention, that of credits, which separates directors from screenwriters.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Anyone who survived the informal audition went on to meet judges Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie, and Carrie Underwood.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Feb. 2026
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Unlike the specialized literary magazine and its informal cousin, the literary blog, the general-interest newspaper has a kind of noble rapacity, an encyclopedic ambition to wrap its arms around the whole of the world.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Board member Renee Paschall cast the lone dissenting vote on the final package.—
Elizabeth Sander,
San Antonio Express-News,
19 Aug. 2022
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The document runs to more than a hundred and fifty pages, and for each question there are affirmative and dissenting studies, as well as some that indicate mixed results.—
The New Yorker,
The New Yorker,
3 June 2022
Cite this Entry
“Heterodox.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heterodox. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.
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