INFIDELS Synonyms: 21 Similar and Opposite Words

infidels

noun

plural of infidel

as in dissenters

disapproving a person who does not believe in a religion that someone regards as the true religion The theocracy regarded as infidels anyone that did not practice their religion.

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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 infidels In Arabic the word kafir or kaffir has been used to refer to infidels, or non-believers in Islam. — Frannie Comstock, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 June 2026 Sunni imams issued fatwas, legal condemnations by Islamic religious leaders, against us infidels. — Literary Hub, 4 Mar. 2026 Al Qaeda and Islamic State generally view Shiites as infidels and consider Iran a mortal enemy. — Foreign Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2026 For those infidels keeping score at home, exactly one year ago today, Carrnac gazed into his crystal ball and presciently predicted both the acquittal of Karen Read and the conviction of Tania Fernandes Anderson. — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 31 Dec. 2025 The group follows an extreme interpretation of Sunni Islam and considers Shiites to be infidels. — Arkansas Online, 27 Dec. 2025 The ideology of the groups appears to categorize anyone not subscribing to their extremist views as infidels, whether Muslims or Christians. — Tom O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2025 During the Crusades, the Inquisition, and countless pogroms, Jews were demonized as infidels who refused to abandon their faith, even under threat of death. — Avi Weiss, New York Daily News, 10 Aug. 2025 War in Syria When the Syrian civil war erupted in March 2011, Syrian Druze were targeted at times by both the Assad regime, which pressured them to support it, and by Islamist rebel groups that regarded them as infidels. — Asher Kaufman, The Conversation, 21 July 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for infidels

Noun

Their restricted status turned many into dissenters and activists, often tailed by the KGB and getting their phone lines cut in an effort to keep their stories quiet.

— Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
This echoed recent comments from three dissenters — Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan — who supported pulling the trigger on a quarter-point rate hike.

— Andrew Moran, Baltimore Sun, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of dissenters

Noun

Many have targeted dissidents or journalists whom the regime accuses of aiding its enemies and fomenting unrest in Iran.

— Cora Engelbrecht, New Yorker, 24 Aug. 2026
As Mikhail Gorbachev became Soviet premier and promised new openness with a policy of glasnost, a slow thaw would begin toward free speech, human rights, the release of political dissidents and relaxed restrictions on emigration.

— Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of dissidents

Noun

In short, this list reminded me that our radicals and renegades are the best thing about this great nation.

— Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 6 July 2026
There are Sixties rock bands like the Sonics and the Small Faces, and pioneering hippie renegades like Love or the Thirteenth Floor Elevators.

— Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 24 June 2026

Definition of renegades

Noun

An idea could be forming despite unbelievers.

— Magi Helena, Dallas Morning News, 14 Mar. 2026
Peppering dashes of humor into its brew of foreboding, the movie views the rise of an authoritarian movement through its effect on a family of unbelievers, covering a five-year period that begins in celebration and ends somewhere very different.

— Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2025

Definition of unbelievers

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infidels

infighting

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“Infidels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/infidels. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of infidels

noun

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