Definition of heresiarchnext
as in dissenter
a person who believes, teaches, or advocates something opposed to accepted beliefs his about-face on welfare reform has led him to be seen as a heresiarch among his party's faithful

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for heresiarch
Noun
  • Such torrential downpours, from loyalists and dissenters alike, often follow the deaths of notorious and long-ruling dictators—Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Saddam Hussein.
    Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026
  • Board member Kevin Lynch was the lone dissenter, and there was no board discussion on the topic besides clarifying questions on the motion.
    Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Feb. 2026
Noun
  • Grozev famously identified the men behind the August 2020 poisoning of the late Russian dissident Alexey Navalny.
    Will Croxton, CBS News, 8 Mar. 2026
  • Roozbeh Farahanipour, a former Iranian dissident who now lives in Los Angeles, worries that a destabilized Iran, with its complex cultural heritage and patchwork of ethnic and religious groups, could devolve into a far worse mess than post-invasion Iraq.
    Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Gehlfuss' rigid, rule-following Bill Goodman serves as a foil to Colin's renegade, acting as an FBI liaison to the CIA.
    Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Clad in red, white and black, the renegade scientist’s sartorial inspiration is not bound to a single era.
    Emma Fraser, Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2026
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.

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“Heresiarch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heresiarch. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.

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