1
as in dissenter
a person who believes, teaches, or advocates something opposed to accepted beliefs
Galileo was condemned as a heretic for supporting Copernicus's thesis that the earth revolves around the sun and not vice versa
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in maverick
a person who does not conform to generally accepted standards or customs
he's the ultimate heretic: a Yankees fan living deep in the heart of the Red Sox Nation
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of heretic
Young Morrison got a harsh lesson in how things are done in a blue state: Liberal groupthink is gospel, dissenters are heretics who should be hushed.
—
Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 28 May 2025
Already a professional heretic, Kennedy became the pandemic’s leading skeptic.
—Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
The witch in question is Jovovich’s Gray Alys, introduced on the brink of being hanged as a heretic by Ash (Arly Jover), a fervent enforcer in a dystopian future ruled by both a royal house and cult-like church.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 6 Mar. 2025
The first is that those who advocate it, even in the mildest terms, are threatened with death as heretics or apostates.
—Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Foreign Affairs, 16 June 2015
See All Example Sentences for heretic
Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 28 May 2025
Already a professional heretic, Kennedy became the pandemic’s leading skeptic.
—Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 19 May 2025
The witch in question is Jovovich’s Gray Alys, introduced on the brink of being hanged as a heretic by Ash (Arly Jover), a fervent enforcer in a dystopian future ruled by both a royal house and cult-like church.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 6 Mar. 2025
The first is that those who advocate it, even in the mildest terms, are threatened with death as heretics or apostates.
—Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Foreign Affairs, 16 June 2015
See All Example Sentences for heretic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heretic
Noun
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If Homelander's takeover of the United States government and rounding up of his chief dissenters took place around Inauguration Day in January, Godolkin University's fall semester kicks off around the end of August.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
27 Aug. 2025
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Though the five-justice majority agreed that’s true for the grant cancellations, Barrett agreed with the dissenters that a separate part of Young’s ruling wiping NIH guidance documents could still stand.—
Zach Schonfeld,
The Hill,
21 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Figgis interviews Coppola several times, also speaking with key cast members (especially LaBeouf and a cheeky Aubrey Plaza), as well as a few long-time collaborators like George Lucas, who doesn’t expect anything less from his old friend and fellow Hollywood maverick.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Aug. 2025
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Thinkers, surveyors, and religious mavericks, the House of Pynchon had settled into middle-class respectability by the time this Thomas Ruggles Pynchon was born.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Chinese police blocked sensitive news, pinpointing dissidents with unnerving precision.—
Sheryl Estrada,
Fortune,
9 Sep. 2025
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To dissidents, she has been seen as a hero putting her life on the line; to Modi’s supporters, as a dangerous subversive who is anti-national and anti-Hindu.—
Anderson Tepper,
The Atlantic,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
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As a result, work in the Texas House, including the passage of several bills unrelated to redistricting, ground to a halt and arrest warrants were issued for the renegade lawmakers, though these couldn't be enforced outside Texas.—
James Bickerton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Aug. 2025
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VCs raining money on said brilliant renegades, despite signals that the market wasn’t quite mature enough and money was being lit on fire?—
Cortney Harding,
Forbes.com,
25 Aug. 2025
Noun
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But this documentary shows us Novak as the fiercely independent iconoclast who left Hollywood on her own terms.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
25 Aug. 2025
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Even the possibility of Stern going away is a signal of how things have changed for the iconoclast.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Heretic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heretic. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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