as in dissent
departure from a generally accepted theory, opinion, or practice
the heresy of asserting that Shakespeare was not a great writer
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Recent Examples of heresy
Its namesake was astronomer Galileo Galilei, who spent the last eight years of his life under house arrest for heresy for his findings supporting Copernicus’ theory that the sun is the center of the solar system.
—
Lorenzino Estrada, AZCentral.com, 8 Dec. 2025
It was considered a heresy by many even in Darwin’s day.
—Literary Hub, 24 Nov. 2025
A day that started all warm and quiet and cozy has now spiraled into screams of heresy and hearsay punctuated by occasional wrestling matches on the carpet.
—Paul Cappiello, Louisville Courier Journal, 7 Nov. 2025
That large firms armed with experts would fall into the trap of bidding in auctions in which the winner is cursed to lose was major heresy to economists.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heresy
Lorenzino Estrada, AZCentral.com, 8 Dec. 2025
It was considered a heresy by many even in Darwin’s day.
—Literary Hub, 24 Nov. 2025
A day that started all warm and quiet and cozy has now spiraled into screams of heresy and hearsay punctuated by occasional wrestling matches on the carpet.
—Paul Cappiello, Louisville Courier Journal, 7 Nov. 2025
That large firms armed with experts would fall into the trap of bidding in auctions in which the winner is cursed to lose was major heresy to economists.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for heresy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heresy
Noun
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Domestically, all kinds of dissent can be deemed a security threat.—
Andy Browne,
semafor.com,
16 Feb. 2026
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Ahead of this week’s trip, William will undoubtedly have been briefed about Saudi Arabia, which has been widely criticized for its human rights record, its suppression of women and where protest and political dissent are punished.—
Yuliya Talmazan,
NBC news,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Shalom Auslander’s literary career has been built on equal parts comedy, heterodoxy and self-loathing.—
Mark Athitakis,
Washington Post,
25 July 2024
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Historians have put forward theories which emphasized the (overstated) isolation of the province, its religious heterodoxy, and, most compellingly, its lack of the kind of 17th-century political traditions that colonists in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia drew on for support.—
Alexandra L. Montgomery,
Smithsonian Magazine,
13 July 2021
Cite this Entry
“Heresy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heresy. Accessed 23 Feb. 2026.
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