iconoclast

noun icon·o·clast \ ī-ˈkä-nə-ˌklast \

Updated on: 7 Apr 2018

Definition of iconoclast

1 : a person who destroys religious images or opposes their veneration

2 : a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions

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iconoclastic

play \(ˌ)ī-ˌkä-nə-ˈkla-stik\ adjective

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iconoclastically

play \(ˌ)ī-ˌkä-nə-ˈkla-sti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

See iconoclast defined for English-language learners

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Examples of iconoclast in a Sentence

notorious as an iconoclast, that music critic isn't afraid to go after sacred cows

Recent Examples of iconoclast from the Web

Maddon, who now guides the Chicago Cubs, is the original iconoclast among modern managers.

— tyler kepner, New York Times, "Gabe Kapler Is Unlike Any Manager Phillies Fans Have Known (and Booed)," 1 Apr. 2018
And Hector is an iconoclast and a rebel within the establishment.

— emily zemler, latimes.com, "IMDb file: Damian Lewis' path from 'Band of Brothers' to 'Billions''," 23 Mar. 2018
No suitable postings had been identified, leaving McMaster – long an iconoclast among the top brass – with no choice but retirement.

— The Christian Science Monitor, "Bolton set to replace McMaster as Trump's national security adviser," 23 Mar. 2018
No suitable postings had been identified, leaving McMaster — long an iconoclast among the top brass — with no choice but retirement.

— Time, "H.R. McMaster Resigns. John Bolton Named Trump's New National Security Advisor," 22 Mar. 2018
Also Big and Fancy: Infiniti's QX80 The 2018 Infiniti QX80 (from $65,745) is the iconoclast’s choice in the XL luxury-SUV segment.

— kevin sintumuang, Esquire, "The Gargantuan SUV Is Back, Whether You Like It or Not," 7 Mar. 2018
McCarthy and co-screenwriter Josh Singer wisely abstain from burdening Rezendes’s character with the cliché of the journalist as righteous iconoclast.

— alexander nazaryan, Newsweek, "Review: 'Spotlight' Explores the Sins of the Fathers," 8 Oct. 2015
Also problematic: Orenstein features only one woman of color — the late Japanese writer and iconoclast Atsuko Chiba — in the seven profiles that comprise this section of the book.

— gayle brandeis, San Francisco Chronicle, "‘Don’t Call Me Princess: Essays on Girls, Women, Sex, and Life,’ by Peggy Orenstein," 1 Mar. 2018
Over the last decade, Carnegie Hall’s composer in residence position has tended to go to veteran iconoclasts whose innovations have taken root in the broader classical scene.

— seth colter walls, New York Times, "Review: Philip Glass Is Celebrated, but Not With His Best," 28 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'iconoclast.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

For the Meaning of iconoclast, Break it Down

Iconoclast is a word that often shows up on vocabulary lists and College Board tests. How will you remember the meaning of this vocabulary-boosting term? If you already know the word icon, you're halfway there. An icon is a picture that represents something. The most common icons today are those little images on our computers and smartphones that represent a program or function, but in the still-recent past, the most common icons were religious images. Icon comes from the Greek eikōn, which is from eikenai, meaning "to resemble." Iconoclast comes to us by way of Medieval Latin from Middle Greek eikonoklastēs, which joins eikōn with a form of the word klan, meaning "to break." Iconoclast literally means "image destroyer."