nullifidian

plural nullifidians

1. lifestyleSynonym of atheist (“a person who does not believe in deities or gods”).

   Near-synonyms: apostate, heretic, infidel (either coordinate or synonymous depending on the beliefs of the speaker or writer)

   4 more examples

   [I]n their eyes, a lukewarm Presbyterian was little better than a Prelatist, an Anti-covenanter, and a Nullifidian.

   1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter II, in Tales of My Landlord, […], volume IV (Old Mortality), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 45

   [I]n case thou shoulds't hollo for assistance, as yonder Nullifidian hath it.

   1826, [Walter Scott], chapter III, in Woodstock; Or, The Cavalier. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC, page 65

   [I]t must be obvious to you that women are destined to play the leading part in our Christian renascence, precisely as they did in the original speading of the faith. […] A man may be content to remain a nullifidian; women cannot rest at that stage. They demand the spiritual significance of everything.

   1892, George Gissing, chapter I, in Born in Exile […], volume III, London; Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, →OCLC, 5th part, page 18

   And then we all went to church, Christians and nullifidians both, and we all sang praise to whatever force it was that had stilled the storm and saved the town, and the Reverend Kline spoke of Elijah taken up to heaven in a whirlwind and said how at times we need the storm, the whirlwind, the earthquake.

   2016, John Dufresne, “Epilogue”, in I Don’t Like Where This is Going (A Wylie Coyote Novel; 2), New York, N.Y.; London: W[illiam] W[arder] Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 237

   Synonyms: apostate, heretic, infidel, atheist · Antonyms: believer, solifidian, true believer

2. figurativelyobsoleteSynonym of sceptic, skeptic (“a person who does not believe in or doubts something”).

   […] Celia was no longer the eternal cherub, but a thorn in her spirit, a pink-and-white nullifidian, worse than any discouraging presence in the 'Pilgrim's Progress.'

   1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter IV, in Middlemarch […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book I, page 56

   Synonyms: sceptic, skeptic

1. not comparablelifestyleHaving no faith or religion; atheist; also, doubtful or sceptical about faith or religion.

   Near-synonym: agnostic

   2 more examples

   I fear treachery to the host from this nullifidian Achan—Thou shalt not go with him. Thou art our chariots and our horsemen.

   1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter II, in Tales of My Landlord, […], volume IV (Old Mortality), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 51

   To whom the sceptic, or in the phrase of Wither's time the nullifidian [John] Nott:—'I should doubt this—he would not compare himself to the other (!)—Daw was wanted for the rhyme.'

   1885 January, Algernon Charles Swinburne, “Charles Lamb and George Wither”, in Miscellanies, London: Chatto & Windus, […], published 1886, →OCLC, page 175

   Synonyms: atheistic, agnostic · Antonyms: faithful, fidelitous, solifidian