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
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of heretic
Among these men are many violent extremists who consider Syria’s minorities—including Alawites and Christians, as well as Druze and Kurds—to be heretics.
—
Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 18 July 2025
Young Morrison got a harsh lesson in how things are done in a blue state: Liberal groupthink is gospel, dissenters are heretics who should be hushed.
—Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 28 May 2025
The witch in question is Jovovich’s Gray Alys, introduced on the brink of being hanged as a heretic by Ash (Arly Jover), a fervent enforcer in a dystopian future ruled by both a royal house and cult-like church.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 6 Mar. 2025
This approach demands that those who were once secular priests—the leaders of the philanthropic sector—abandon their cassocks and accept the mantle of the heretic.
—Mark Malloch-Brown, Foreign Affairs, 15 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for heretic
Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 18 July 2025
Young Morrison got a harsh lesson in how things are done in a blue state: Liberal groupthink is gospel, dissenters are heretics who should be hushed.
—Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 28 May 2025
The witch in question is Jovovich’s Gray Alys, introduced on the brink of being hanged as a heretic by Ash (Arly Jover), a fervent enforcer in a dystopian future ruled by both a royal house and cult-like church.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 6 Mar. 2025
This approach demands that those who were once secular priests—the leaders of the philanthropic sector—abandon their cassocks and accept the mantle of the heretic.
—Mark Malloch-Brown, Foreign Affairs, 15 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for heretic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heretic
Noun
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The task force has a record of controversy given its history of targeting protestors, dissenters, and people of color, according to the ACLU.—
Solcyré Burga,
Time,
2 Oct. 2025
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The loudest dissenter was the science-fiction writer Cory Doctorow, who represented the Electronic Frontier Foundation at the consortium.—
Julian Lucas,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Henry Jaglom, the maverick auteur who crafted deeply intimate and unconventional films that explored the intricacies of relationships and the quirkiness of human behavior, has died.—
Chris Koseluk,
HollywoodReporter,
24 Sep. 2025
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Jazz is an art form with an outsized share of mavericks, rebels, and creative dissidents who’ve built careers by blazing their own particular paths.—
Andrew Gilbert,
Mercury News,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Also not fitting the West’s preconceptions was the fact that most Soviet dissidents didn’t reject socialism.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
3 Oct. 2025
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The festival also falls during the seventh anniversary of the assassination of Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, which a US intelligence report says happened at the behest of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.—
Liam Reilly,
CNN Money,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Skarsgård has long been a red carpet renegade, showing flashes of that playful freak that lives within.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
3 Oct. 2025
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With a running time of 191 minutes, Grindhouse was meant to be a celebration of the exploitation cinema on which the two renegade directors grew up.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
28 Sep. 2025
Noun
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To be in the presence of this iconoclast was quite something.—
Ellie Goulding,
Rolling Stone,
2 Oct. 2025
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But this documentary shows us Novak as the fiercely independent iconoclast who left Hollywood on her own terms.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
25 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Heretic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heretic. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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