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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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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
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The piece, presented by Bodhi Tree Concerts — a major fest presence over the past few years — was created in 1969 by the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, a composer who was an iconoclast in the extreme.
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The iconoclast from the Bronx was inexorably drawn to the politics of civil rights, the environment, opposition to the Vietnam war.
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The American iconoclast even relocated to the region after staying at La Colombe in 1970, remaining in the area until his death in 1987.
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Star Josh Groban made his Broadway debut and earned his first Tony nomination playing Pierre, the gruff iconoclast who takes pity on disgraced ingenue Natasha.
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There aren't too many iconoclasts left in the rock realm, but Roger Waters is assuredly one of them.
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Voters lean Republican and prefer iconoclasts along with limited government and their right to bear arms.
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For the rest of Wednesday, Amash – an iconoclast who wrote in Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
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Both of them, Reps. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) and Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.), are libertarian-leaning iconoclasts who frequently break with their party.
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."
Origin and Etymology of iconoclast
Medieval Latin iconoclastes, from Middle Greek eikonoklastēs, literally, image destroyer, from Greek eikono- + klan to break — more at clast
Other Religion (Eastern and Other) Terms
Zen, antinomian, avatar, gnosticism, illuminati, ineffable, karma, koan, mantra
ICONOCLAST Defined for English Language Learners
iconoclast
playDefinition of iconoclast for English Language Learners
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: a person who criticizes or opposes beliefs and practices that are widely accepted
Learn More about iconoclast
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See words that rhyme with iconoclast Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for iconoclast Spanish Central: Translation of iconoclast Nglish: Translation of iconoclast for Spanish speakers
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