atheist

noun

athe·​ist ˈā-thē-ist How to pronounce atheist (audio)
: a person who does not believe in the existence of a god or any gods : one who subscribes to or advocates atheism
atheistic adjective
or atheistical
atheistically adverb

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How Agnostic Differs From Atheist

Atheist and agnostic appear in the same contexts but are distinct in meaning. Atheist refers to someone who does not believe in the existence of a god or any gods. Agnostic has two relevant meanings: it can refer to someone who holds the view that any ultimate reality, such as God, is unknown and probably unknowable, or it can refer to someone who is not committed to believing in either the existence or nonexistence of God or a god.

Agnostic first appeared in print in 1869 (it was possibly coined by the English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley), and was formed from the Greek agnōstos, meaning "unknown, unknowable." Atheist came to English from the French athéisme. Although both words share the prefix a-, meaning "without," the main body of each word is quite different. Agnostic ultimately comes from the Greek root gignōskein, meaning "know" (also the source of such words as know and prognosis). Atheist shares the root theo, meaning "god," with such words as theology and theism.

Examples of atheist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Khazen, an atheist from an aristocratic Christian family, is funding the effort with help from friends. Rania Abouzeid, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2024 Mainstream Jewish institutions, in the staff’s view, have supplanted an expansive tradition with a narrow ethnic tribalism: Jews can be atheists or Buddhists or connoisseurs of pepperoni pizza, but Israel’s status as a Jewish democracy remains sacred. Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2024 Communists, rationalists, atheists, and secularists are routinely targeted in India's own version of McCarthyism. Ananya Vajpeyi, Foreign Affairs, 3 Nov. 2015 One 2015 study found that, in the United States, negative attitudes toward vegans rivaled those toward atheists. Jishnu Guha-Majumdar, Vox, 8 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for atheist 

Word History

Etymology

see atheism

First Known Use

1551, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of atheist was in 1551

Dictionary Entries Near atheist

Cite this Entry

“Atheist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheist. Accessed 9 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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