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
While many European nations and Canada do subject hateful or vaguely threatening speech to sanctions, ours is a rough and tumble nation born of the Boston Tea Party and settled by Pilgrims, who were heretics of their time.
—
Marc Levin, Twin Cities, 7 Oct. 2025
Among those applauding at the end was Carmen Chaplin, one of the director’s granddaughters, and even heretics, whose faith in Chaplin is fickle, will have been swept along.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Giordano Bruno, a like-minded heretic, already had been just a few years earlier.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 5 Aug. 2025
This approach demands that those who were once secular priests—the leaders of the philanthropic sector—abandon their cassocks and accept the mantle of the heretic.
—Mark Malloch-Brown, Foreign Affairs, 15 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for heretic
Marc Levin, Twin Cities, 7 Oct. 2025
Among those applauding at the end was Carmen Chaplin, one of the director’s granddaughters, and even heretics, whose faith in Chaplin is fickle, will have been swept along.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Giordano Bruno, a like-minded heretic, already had been just a few years earlier.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 5 Aug. 2025
This approach demands that those who were once secular priests—the leaders of the philanthropic sector—abandon their cassocks and accept the mantle of the heretic.
—Mark Malloch-Brown, Foreign Affairs, 15 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for heretic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heretic
Noun
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But in the shadows, amid growing unease at the blood-thirsty actions of the realm’s merciless Mad King, dissenters from his inner circle anxiously advance a treasonous plot.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
18 Feb. 2026
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However, such a storied brand as Clinique even knows a universally flattering shade can still have its dissenters.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Tress’s approach during this period recalls that of his friend and mentor Duane Michals, another maverick.—
Vince Aletti,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
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An exhibition in Beijing delving into anonymity, a key code of the house stemming back to the founder Martin Margiela’s Greta Garbo-like ways — and the face-obscuring masks that have been a feature of the brand since the Belgian maverick arrived on the international fashion scene.—
Miles Socha,
Footwear News,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The choice of Aung San Suu Kyi, a dissident in Myanmar who received the prize in 1991, began to look problematic when Aung came to power in 2016 and defended the genocide that the Burmese military carried out against the Rohingya, an ethnic minority group.—
Simon Shuster,
The Atlantic,
15 Feb. 2026
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Yulia Navalnaya, the Russian dissident’s widow, appeared at a press conference on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference to announce the results of a Western analysis into his death, flanked by the foreign ministers of European nations.—
Freddie Clayton,
NBC news,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
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But in order to remain a meaningful platform for creative renegades, the festival needs to also take risks.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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But, more intriguingly, the often shape-shifting iconoclast will be trying on what promises to be a new or at least evolved musical style.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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The women in her stories feel profound, distinct uncertainty toward convention—less as iconoclasts than fierce individuals.—
Chloe Schama,
Vogue,
26 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Heretic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heretic. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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