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
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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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Recent Examples of heretic
What better way to dismiss or delegitimize the heretics than to smear them as covert members of the opposition?
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Pamela Paul, The Mercury News, 29 June 2024
The stake, with the hooded heretic, the black man or the witch attached to it, is the burning tree and body of the infernal world.
—John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
Few within his party want to get crosswise with Trump, who has a history of humiliating heretics.
—Eric Cortellessa, TIME, 31 May 2024
Such behavior resulted in Pope Innocent III’s papal push to exterminate these heretics—leading to a slaughter of between a quarter and a million Cathars in the 13th century during the Albigensian crusade.
—Tom Mullen, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for heretic 
Pamela Paul, The Mercury News, 29 June 2024
The stake, with the hooded heretic, the black man or the witch attached to it, is the burning tree and body of the infernal world.
—John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 22 May 2024
Few within his party want to get crosswise with Trump, who has a history of humiliating heretics.
—Eric Cortellessa, TIME, 31 May 2024
Such behavior resulted in Pope Innocent III’s papal push to exterminate these heretics—leading to a slaughter of between a quarter and a million Cathars in the 13th century during the Albigensian crusade.
—Tom Mullen, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for heretic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for heretic
Noun
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But, Smith writes, there were dissenters from the start.Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 27 Oct. 2024
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In that case, Thomas was the sole dissenter in an 8-1 decision.Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2024
Noun
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One of the most glaring moments of defiance came in January 2022, when both maverick senators voted against a Democratic proposal to carve out the Senate’s filibuster rule to pass voting rights legislation.Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 13 Dec. 2024
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The maverick says he was almost wiped out by the 1997 Asian financial crisis and again in December 2004 when a tsunami roared across many parts of Asia, killing at least 225,000 people, including guests and staff at his Anantara resort at Khao Lak, north of Phuket.Ron Gluckman, Forbes, 12 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The collection blends his brand’s bold renegade aesthetic with the hotel’s classic luxury heritage.Ritu Upadhyay, WWD, 13 Dec. 2024
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At the center of it all is Tom Cruise returning to one of his most iconic roles as the titular renegade aviator, the years not diluting his spirit so much as making his brashness far more interesting.David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 19 Nov. 2024
Noun
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In the 1938 classic The Adventures of Robin Hood, Robin Hood is a happy iconoclast, meting out his form of social and political justice with the cheerful irreverence and deft strokes of Errol Flynn, cinema’s premier swashbuckler.Scott Tobias, Vulture, 20 Nov. 2024
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But the internal battle between traditionalist Republicans, like McCarthy, and far-right iconoclasts, like Gaetz, has been no contest: Gaetz beat Dimmock by 45 points.Mike Lillis, The Hill, 6 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Heretic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heretic. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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