her·e·tic

(hĕr′ĭ-tĭk)

A person who holds controversial opinions, especially one who publicly dissents from the officially accepted dogma of the Roman Catholic Church.

adj.

Heretical.

[Middle English heretik, from Old French heretique, from Late Latin haereticus, from Greek hairetikos, able to choose, factious, from hairetos, chosen, from haireisthai, to choose; see heresy.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

heretic

(ˈhɛrətɪk)

1. (Roman Catholic Church) chiefly RC Church a person who maintains beliefs contrary to the established teachings of the Church

2. a person who holds unorthodox opinions in any field

heretical adj

heˈretically adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

her•e•tic

(ˈhɛr ɪ tɪk; adj. also həˈrɛt ɪk)

n.

1. a professed believer who maintains religious beliefs contrary to those accepted by his or her church.

2. a professed believer who willfully and persistently rejects any part of the doctrine of his or her church.

3. anyone who does not conform to an established view, doctrine, or principle.

adj.

4. heretical.

[1300–50; Middle English < Middle French heretique < Late Latin haereticus < Greek hairetikós able to choose (Late Greek: heretical), derivative of hairet(ós) that may be taken, v. adj. of haireîn to choose]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	heretic - a person who holds religious beliefs in conflict with the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church misbeliever, religious outcast castaway, outcast, pariah, Ishmael - a person who is rejected (from society or home)
	2.	heretic - a person who holds unorthodox opinions in any field (not merely religion) recusant, nonconformist - someone who refuses to conform to established standards of conduct

heretic

noun nonconformist, dissident, separatist, sectarian, renegade, revisionist, dissenter, apostate, schismatic He was considered a heretic and was ridiculed for his ideas.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

heretic

noun

A person who dissents from the doctrine of an established church:

dissenter, dissident, nonconformist, schismatic, sectarian, sectary, separationist, separatist.

Translations

هرطَقي، مِن أهْل البِدَع

kacíř-ka

kætter

Ketzer HäretikerHäretikerinhäretisch Ketzerin

hereje

harhaoppinenkerettiläinentoisinajattelija

hérétique

eretnek

trúvillingur

kacír

sapkınlık gösteren kimse

异教徒

heretic

[ˈherətɪk] N → hereje mf

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

heretic

[ˈhɛrɪtɪk] n

(RELIGION) → hérétique mf

(fig) → hérétique mf

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

heretic

n → Ketzer(in) m(f), → Häretiker(in) m(f) (spec)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

heretic

[ˈhɛrətɪk] n → eretico/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

heresy

(ˈherəsi) noun

(the holding or teaching of) an (especially religious) opinion which differs from the official opinion.

ˈheretic (-tik) noun

a person who holds or teaches such an opinion.

heretical (həˈretikl) adjective

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Then the invalid became a heretic or sorcerer; as heretic or sorcerer he suffered, and sought to cause suffering.

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He ain't that far gone exactly--few men is, I reckon--but he's what you might call a heretic. Heretics are wicked, but they're mighty int'resting.

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foreman, said, I see clearly that this man is a heretic.

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His heart warms to him when he can bring forward some example of cruelty or meanness, and he exults like an inquisitor at the auto da fe of an heretic when with some forgotten story he can confound the filial piety of the Rev.

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The University was ordered to crush the heretic. But the University stood by him until the King added his orders to those of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

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Thereupon I declared that I was a heretic and a barbarian--"Je suis heretique et barbare," I said, "and that these archbishops and cardinals and monsignors, and the rest of them, meant nothing at all to me.

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While she prayed that she might become the humble instrument of bringing him into the flock of the faithful, she petitioned for forgiveness, on her own behalf, if presumption or indifference to the counsel of the church had caused her to set too high a value on her influence, and led her into the dangerous error of hazarding her own soul by espousing a heretic. There was so much of fervent piety, mingled with so strong a burst of natural feeling, so much of the woman blended with the angel, in her prayers, that Middleton could have forgiven her, had she termed him a Pagan, for the sweetness and interest with which she petitioned in his favour.

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Once I laid my hand on her head, in token of approbation; I thought Sylvie was going to smile, her dim eye almost kindled; but, presently, she shrank from me; I was a man and a heretic; she, poor child!

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Blifil suffered himself to be overpowered by the forcible rhetoric of the squire; and it being agreed that Western should close with Allworthy that very afternoon, the lover departed home, having first earnestly begged that no violence might be offered to the lady by this haste, in the same manner as a popish inquisitor begs the lay power to do no violence to the heretic delivered over to it, and against whom the church hath passed sentence.

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Then I knew that, as I had bred Friday up to be a Protestant, it would quite confound him to bring him to embrace another religion; and he would never, while his eyes were open, believe that his old master was a heretic, and would be damned; and this might in the end ruin the poor fellow's principles, and so turn him back again to his first idolatry.

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And therefore, whensoever it cometh to that pass, that one saith, Ecce in deserto, another saith, Ecce in penetralibus; that is, when some men seek Christ, in the conventicles of heretics, and others, in an outward face of a church, that voice had need continually to sound in men's ears, Nolite exire, - Go not out.

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Among them would he find a perpetual haven of refuge, where no `lying heretics' might seek him out.

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