Test Your Vocabulary

Take Our 10-Question Quiz

Name That Thing

Take our visual vocab quiz

Test Your Knowledge »

True or False?

A quick quiz about stuff worth knowing

Take It Now »

Join Us on FB & Twitter

Get the Word of the Day and More

Facebook | Twitter

heretic


her·e·tic

noun \ˈher-ə-ˌtik, ˈhe-rə-\

Definition of HERETIC

1
: a dissenter from established religious dogma; especially : a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church who disavows a revealed truth
2
: one who dissents from an accepted belief or doctrine : nonconformist

Examples of HERETIC

  1. The church regards them as heretics.
  2. <Galileo was condemned as a heretic for supporting Copernicus's thesis that the earth revolves around the sun and not vice versa.>

First Known Use of HERETIC

14th century

Other Religion (Eastern and Other) Terms

Zen, antinomian, avatar, gnosticism, illuminati, ineffable, karma, koan, mantra

Browse

Next Word in the Dictionary: heretical
Previous Word in the Dictionary: heresy
All Words Near: heretic

Seen & Heard

What made you want to look up heretic? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).