as in barbarian
not civilized
old missionaries who mistakenly thought that they were going off to China to tame the heathen hordes
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in pagan
a person who does not worship the God of the Bible
a study of the beliefs and practices of ancient heathens
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in primitive
an uncivilized person
European colonizers, who considered the New World peoples to be heathens, forced them to conform to European ways
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 heathen
Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 30 May 2019
Each essay will identify a contemporary issue, discuss it through the lens of heathen myths, and suggest a solution based on heathen ideals.
—Sigal Samuel, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2017
Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025
In the years after the Civil War, both Republicans and Democrats portrayed the Chinese arriving on the Pacific Coast as an invading horde, a heathen, unassimilable people.
—Jeannie Suk Gersen, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2022
See All Example Sentences for heathen
Adjective
Some of my brethren and sis-tren (sis-tren?) in the heathen media tribe get all riled up if a player or coach won’t speak to them.
—Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 30 May 2019
Each essay will identify a contemporary issue, discuss it through the lens of heathen myths, and suggest a solution based on heathen ideals.
—Sigal Samuel, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2017
Noun
Among Catholic Filipinos, the stereotype of the Moros as dangerous heathens lingers, and discrimination against them remains widespread.
—Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025
In the years after the Civil War, both Republicans and Democrats portrayed the Chinese arriving on the Pacific Coast as an invading horde, a heathen, unassimilable people.
—Jeannie Suk Gersen, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2022
See All Example Sentences for heathen
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heathen
Adjective
-
For the design of the barbarian figure, Sweet reached out to Mark Taylor, an artist and designer at Mattel.—
Sanat Pai RaikarAll,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
4 May 2026
-
When the Western Roman Empire fell in the fifth century C.E., Europe was plunged into chaos as barbarian Germanic forces advanced south—or so the story goes.—
Emma Gometz,
Scientific American,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Among those cut was the Unitarian Universalist Association (others were atheists, pagans and Wiccans).—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
11 June 2026
-
Sometimes he was described as a modern-day Cyrus, a Persian king and a pagan in the Hebrew Bible whom God nevertheless anointed and would use for his purposes.—
Peter Wehner,
The Atlantic,
10 June 2026
Noun
-
That question lives in the wallet, and the wallet, until very recently, did not have the right primitive to answer it.—
Boaz Sobrado,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2026
-
What follows this admission is a piercing dissection not of the art itself, but of frameworks of looking at Black art and life that go beyond racist tropes disguised as appeals to the primitive, the spontaneous, the corporeal.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
That seems a pretty rude thing to write in the newspaper.—
Peter Larsen,
Oc Register,
10 June 2026
-
Brock isn’t being rude — far from it.—
Rachel Brodsky,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2026
Adjective
-
Harron slyly transforms it into a savage social satire, using the narrator’s unreliable point of view to borderline absurdist effect.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
9 June 2026
-
What begins as a desperate family bonding trip rapidly devolves into savage violence and brutal psychological warfare.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
3 June 2026
Adjective
-
Though the Guardians have a share of first place with the White Sox and a three-game cushion over the Athletics in wild-card positioning, the club is about to weather some significant time without José Ramírez or Chase DeLauter.—
Stephen J. Nesbitt,
New York Times,
16 June 2026
-
Rosenthal and other salary cap critics point out that wild spending is no guarantee of success, and many clubs operating on a shoestring, like the Milwaukee Brewers, have found ways to win consistently.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
15 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Heathen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heathen. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
