1
as in deserter
a person who abandons a cause or organization usually without right
an apostate from communism, he later became one of its harshest critics
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in traitor
one who betrays a trust or an allegiance
became an apostate to liberalism after he had gotten wealthy
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in renegade
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of apostate
Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2025
Image Stone, 60, is that increasingly familiar figure in conservative life: an apostate from the mainstream, in recovery from her earlier liberalism.
—Marc Tracy, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2025
The Islamic State group follows a hard-line version of Sunni Islam and considers Shiite Muslims to be apostates.
—Warren P. Strobel, arkansasonline.com, 26 Jan. 2025
As the developed north lectures this new generation of Latin American leaders to abide by neoliberal, democratic norms and isolating apostates, China and Russia are all too willing to provide an alternative.
—Christopher Sabatini, Foreign Affairs, 31 Aug. 2022
See All Example Sentences for apostate
Adjective
On the walls, someone had spray painted graffiti calling Alawites dogs and apostates.
—Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2025
Image Stone, 60, is that increasingly familiar figure in conservative life: an apostate from the mainstream, in recovery from her earlier liberalism.
—Marc Tracy, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2025
The Islamic State group follows a hard-line version of Sunni Islam and considers Shiite Muslims to be apostates.
—Warren P. Strobel, arkansasonline.com, 26 Jan. 2025
As the developed north lectures this new generation of Latin American leaders to abide by neoliberal, democratic norms and isolating apostates, China and Russia are all too willing to provide an alternative.
—Christopher Sabatini, Foreign Affairs, 31 Aug. 2022
See All Example Sentences for apostate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apostate
Noun
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Language purists like to remind anyone who will listen that decimation actually means the slaughter of one in ten people, and was the military punishment wielded by the Roman army against deserters and mutineers.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
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In 1945, three men — two Jewish refugees living in Brooklyn and one Nazi deserter — enlisted in the Office of Strategic Services, a precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States.—
Lauren Liebhaber,
Miami Herald,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The competition show takes place in Scotland and has cast members divided into two groups, traitors and faithfuls, and the faithfuls try to vote off the traitors to win a cash prize.—
Jenni Fink,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
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The former vice president was also dubbed a traitor by the rioters.—
Michael Nied,
PEOPLE,
27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Linson had a renegade spirit and a rock and roll heart, and was part of a new wave of younger filmmakers that included Hal Ashby and Jonathan Demme.—
Cameron Crowe,
HollywoodReporter,
24 Oct. 2025
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The project is described as a supernatural home invasion horror-thriller about a disaffected teenage girl who must team up with a renegade witch to protect her little sister from a murderous coven hellbent on using her as a human sacrifice in an apocalyptic ritual on Halloween night.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The apparent killing – captured on video shared online by the rebels themselves – took place at a university medical school in El Fasher in Sudan’s western Darfur region after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took over the city on Sunday.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
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As regular troops in French service, the British treated them as prisoners of war instead of Jacobite rebels, and eventually repatriated them to France.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Such was the case this past weekend, when tens of millions of fans keyed in on the denouement of the college basketball season at the expense of lesser spectacles such as spring football and one notoriously schismatic pro golf startup.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
9 Apr. 2025
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The Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which didn't recognize the authority of the Russian church and had been regarded as schismatic, was granted full recognition in 2019 by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Orthodoxy's top authority.—
COMPILED BYDEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFFFROM WIRE REPORTS,
arkansasonline.com,
26 Dec. 2023
Noun
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has successfully recruited prized political heavyweights in key battlegrounds, but left-wing insurgents are threatening to dash his plans to create a competitive midterm map for Democrats.—
Ramsey Touchberry,
The Washington Examiner,
26 Oct. 2025
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Al-Shabaab, an Islamist insurgent group that has battled the central government for two decades in southern and central Somalia, is gaining ground.—
Omar S Mahmood,
Time,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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But the state is also being forced to consider nontraditional water sources while staring down the impending water shortage.—
Matthew Adams,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
21 Oct. 2025
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That means lots of bratwurst, plenty of beer and traditional and nontraditional tunes from the Zicke Zacke Band.—
Sal Pizarro,
Mercury News,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
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According to Rensch, Kamp took it upon himself to make sure that the boy received special chess training – including hiring the former Soviet defector, Igor Ivanov – and providing funds and transport so Rensch could travel to tournaments around Arizona and the country to test his skills.—
Ben Morse,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
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The approach extended to the creative process, with extensive consultation with North Korean experts and defectors throughout production.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
25 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Apostate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apostate. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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