pagan 1 of 2

noun

ˈpā-gən How to pronounce pagan (audio)
Definition of pagannext
as in gentile
a person who does not worship the God of the Bible the temple was built by pagans in the 4th century as a place to worship their idols

Synonyms & Similar Words

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pagan

2 of 2

adjective

as in secular

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Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

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 pagan
Noun
Why would pagans want a coin with a Christian on it? — Sarah Durn, Popular Science, 8 Apr. 2026 The pagans believed eggs symbolized fertility and birth. — Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
The area Life is decidedly unhurried in this part of the world, where the sunkissed monte landscape is punctuated by cork, olive, and oak trees, wild horses frolic in meadows, and huge granite dolmens hint at a pagan past. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Apr. 2026 The pagan Martial enjoyed the sight. — Literary Hub, 15 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for pagan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pagan
  1. gentile
  2. secular
  3. atheist
  4. godless
  5. atheistic
  6. irreligious
  7. nonreligious
Noun
  • From there, the beef between the two couples runs the gamut from faux-gentile to downright nasty.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 17 Apr. 2026
  • Several new billboards on Interstate 84 in Hartford and West Hartford are sending a not-so-gentile reminder that rat poison kills more than just rats.
    — Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 2 Mar. 2026
Definition of gentile
Adjective
  • China’s multi-year slowdown, combined with the steady, secular shift toward alternative energy sources, continues to dull long-term demand and has fundamentally altered global consumption projections.
    — Michael Khouw, CNBC, 13 July 2026
  • The risk with any attempt to explain religion to a secular audience is playing into the misapprehension that American Christianity is monolithic.
    — Meghan O’Gieblyn, The New York Review of Books, 11 July 2026
Definition of secular
Noun
  • Her insights into Maher being a longstanding atheist were a good link back to Twain.
    — Andy Hoglund, Entertainment Weekly, 29 June 2026
  • Veena had been an atheist with dreams of becoming a physicist.
    — Rich Schapiro, NBC news, 20 June 2026
Definition of atheist
Adjective
  • Sometimes this was committed to good, such as the Marshall Plan and the Peace Corps, and sometimes to ill, as in a series of military blunders meant to quash godless Communism.
    — Jim Rasenberger, The Atlantic, 4 July 2026
  • These are not social Democrats, these are hard-core, godless communists.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 28 June 2026
Definition of godless
Adjective
  • His father's death during World War II influenced his pursuit of the ministry even amid the officially atheistic communist regime of the Soviet Union, according to his obituary on the OCU website.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Mar. 2026
  • But there has been a recent rise in secular congregations that explicitly mimic religious organizations and rituals to celebrate atheistic worldviews.
    — Jacqui Frost, The Conversation, 11 Jan. 2024
Definition of atheistic
Adjective
  • Because materialism had an irreligious connotation, Hattem says it was left out of the national conversation until the Gilded Age of the 1920s, when people start saying the quiet part out loud.
    — Cari Shane, USA Today, 25 June 2026
  • This story is told by an unnamed narrator, an irreligious woman who has joined the nuns as a lay resident after her faith in environmental advocacy crumbled.
    — Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2026
Definition of irreligious
Adjective
  • Such statements only alienate nonreligious people without a political home from engaging.
    — Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Florida statutes creating the charter school framework also require those schools to be nonreligious.
    — Gray Rohrer, Sun Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2026
Definition of nonreligious

Browse Nearby Words

paeans
pagan
paganish
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Cite this Entry

“Pagan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pagan. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on pagan

Nglish: Translation of pagan for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about pagan

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