heterodox
adjective
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Hot take: individuals often see other people’s ideas as unconventional while regarding their own as common sense. On second thought, this take may be more on the mild side—in other words, closer to orthodox (“conventional”) insight about human nature than to heterodox (“unconventional” or “contrary”) opinion. Both orthodox and heterodox developed from the same root, the Greek doxa, meaning “opinion.” Heterodox combines doxa with heter-, a combining form meaning “other” or “different”; orthodox pairs doxa with orth-, meaning “correct” or “straight.”
Synonyms of heterodox
Examples of heterodox in a Sentence
Suzy Khimm, NBC news, 4 Feb. 2026
At the dawn of research into what is now known as HIV/AIDS, Duesberg took the heterodox view that HIV was a harmless virus that had nothing to do with AIDS.
—Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2026
In Syria, an equivalent system existed under the Assad dynasty, in which rural Alawites (a heterodox sect that emerged from Shiism) dominated the security agencies that policed a Sunni majority.
—Elizabeth Tsurkov, The Atlantic, 11 Jan. 2026
Mollino—a heterodox figure who, from the margins, influenced the trajectory of twentieth-century design—likely never spent a single night there; its existence was only discovered after his death.
—Javier Montes, Artforum, 1 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Heterodox.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heterodox. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.
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heterodox
adjective
