apostates

noun

plural of apostate
1
as in deserters
a person who abandons a cause or organization usually without right an apostate from communism, he later became one of its harshest critics

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in traitors
one who betrays a trust or an allegiance became an apostate to liberalism after he had gotten wealthy

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of apostates Many members of today’s professional class are apostates, and this apostasy is worth taking seriously as a sign of an economic order that cannot seem to justify itself to its own public-relations arm. — Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 22 Aug. 2026 This documentary, featuring interviews with apostates, looks like a compelling deep dive. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 17 July 2026 Brown and O’Neill cast themselves less as Sandberg’s heirs than as her apostates. — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025 In Iran, Baha’is are considered to be apostates and face persecution, marked by extreme violence including extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention. — Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apostates
  1. deserters
  2. traitors
  3. renegades
  4. rebels
  5. insurgents
Noun
  • And within his own country’s history, particularly, Dhont discovered the fates that met would-be deserters who were caught — brutal sentences often leading to death.
    — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 12 May 2026
  • Harry Truman granted amnesty to certain World War II deserters, while Jimmy Carter granted pardons to hundreds of thousands of individuals who dodged the draft during the Vietnam War.
    — Stewart Ulrich, The Conversation, 15 Dec. 2025
Definition of deserters
Noun
  • Ortiz vowed to interrogate and, if necessary, kill any traitors who thwarted him and Simon.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 31 Aug. 2026
  • In reality, the big debate has been about questions such as whether military bases should be named for traitors and whether governments should host monuments to a rebellion to defend slavery.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 21 July 2026
Definition of traitors
Noun
  • In some ways, there is a strange kind of unity to these three—all are set during the Depression, all feature stylish renegades.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2026
  • There are Sixties rock bands like the Sonics and the Small Faces, and pioneering hippie renegades like Love or the Thirteenth Floor Elevators.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 24 June 2026
Definition of renegades
Noun
  • Nathaniel Bacon and his rebels set fire to Jamestown, the capital of the Virginia colony.
    — USA Today, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Smokejumpers kicked cargo destined for mountain villages in Vietnam, Hmong rebels in Laos, and Muslim dissidents in China.
    — M. R. O’Connor, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of rebels
Noun
  • The insecurity landscape is also more chaotic because some groups, after initially being invited to help defend against insurgents, turned into terrorists, said Dengiyefa Angalapu, an analyst at the Center for Democracy and Development in Abuja.
    — Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Socialists have found a new footing in the party, with younger and more left-wing insurgents ousting older establishment figures to demand generational and ideological change.
    — Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of insurgents

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apostate
apostates
apostatize
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Cite this Entry

“Apostates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apostates. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.

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