as in dissent
departure from a generally accepted theory, opinion, or practice Copernicus's theory that the earth revolved around the sun was arrant heterodoxy at a time when the earth was thought to be the center of the universe

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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 heterodoxy Shalom Auslander’s literary career has been built on equal parts comedy, heterodoxy and self-loathing. Mark Athitakis, Washington Post, 25 July 2024 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 The third or worst scenario would be if Rome would for some reason fail to address this situation on time; the heterodoxy would consequently rashly spread within the Church. Fr. Goran Jovicic, National Review, 13 June 2021 Trump’s heterodoxy and disruptiveness provided the equivalent of an enormous natural experiment, and the results were surprising. Oren Cass, Foreign Affairs, 12 Feb. 2021 Four months later, Wilson was ousted as CEO of Ascend, having already been stripped of his responsibilities as early as July, just one month after expressing his heterodoxy. Madeline Fry Schultz, Washington Examiner, 10 Dec. 2020 McCain does not appear to have consciously intended his embrace of the campaign finance reform topic to be a major act of ideological heterodoxy. Matthew Yglesias, Vox, 26 Aug. 2018 Kanye has long worked with songwriters — something that, because it’s perceived as heterodoxy, is rarely discussed openly. Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 25 June 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heterodoxy
Noun
  • The conservative majority ruled 6-3 to overturn the ruling, with Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson also joining the dissent.
    Andrew Stanton Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 Sep. 2025
  • From that point forward, Kennedy pushed the people around him to question assumptions and voice dissent before major decisions.
    Lindsay Phillips, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • All have historical roots, many once considered and debated, just to be cast aside during the Oslo years, when the two-state solution—whose roots were shallower—ruled supreme, became the lingua franca, and all else was deemed heresy.
    Hussein Agha, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
  • His writings were condemned by the church as heresy but found a fan centuries later in Martin Heidegger, which makes sense.
    Jon Raymond August 5, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Heterodoxy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heterodoxy. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

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