heretic

plural heretics · alternative archaic hæretic · alternative archaic heretike · alternative obsolete hæretick · alternative obsolete heretick

1. Someone whose beliefs are contrary to the fundamental tenets of a religion they claim to belong to.

   He semeth a sysmatyke Or els an heretike, For fayth in hym is faynte.

   c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 62, lines 17–19

   1 more example

   In the framework of traditional medical ethics, the patient deserves humane attention only insofar as he is potentially healthy and is willing to be healthy—just as in the framework of traditional Christian ethics, the heretic deserved humane attention only insofar as he was potentially a true believer and was willing to become one.

   1974, Thomas S. Szasz, chapter 11, in The Myth of Mental Illness, →ISBN, page 197

2. broadlySomeone who does not conform to generally accepted beliefs or practices.

comparative more heretic · superlative most heretic · alternative archaic hæretic · alternative archaic heretike · alternative obsolete hæretick · alternative obsolete heretick

1. archaicHeretical; of or pertaining to heresy or heretics.

   Antonyms: orthodox