heretical

IPA/həˈretɪkl/
KK[hɚˈɛtɪkəl]IPA/həˈretɪkl/

heretical — adjective

  • hereticalpositive
  • more hereticalcomparative
  • most hereticalsuperlative

1. describing an idea, opinion, or belief that most people in a group or society st

1.adjectiveC1
Definition

describing an idea, opinion, or belief that most people in a group or society strongly reject because it goes against the values or traditions they have long accepted.

Example

Chen's plan to shorten the school week was seen as heretical at the town meeting.

passive: be seen as + heretical

The professor's heretical views on climate policy cost her the support of the university board.

heretical views on + topic

Common collocations
  • heretical views
  • heretical ideas
  • heretical opinion
  • heretical suggestion
  • heretical notion
  • considered heretical
  • branded as heretical
Synonyms
  • unorthodox

    milder — suggests a departure from tradition without the strong disapproval that heretical carries

  • dissenting

    focuses on the act of disagreeing rather than violating a norm; less emotionally charged

  • iconoclastic

    more active and aggressive — suggests deliberately attacking established beliefs or institutions

Antonyms
  • orthodox

    describes beliefs that follow the accepted standard

  • conventional

    describes ideas that conform to what most people expect or approve of

Grammar Patterns

heretical + noun (views, ideas, opinions)

be considered heretical

be seen as heretical

Usage Note

This sense is common in academic, political, and cultural contexts. Unlike sense 2, it has no connection to formal religion — the "accepted tradition" can be any long-standing social or professional norm.

Common Mistakes

His heretical behavior at the dinner table embarrassed everyone.
His heretical views on education shocked the school board.
heretical describes ideas, opinions, or beliefs, not general manners or actions.
She was punished for her heretical crime.
She was punished for her heretical beliefs.
a crime can be illegal but not heretical; heretical specifically refers to holding a forbidden opinion.

2. describing a religious claim or teaching that the recognized leaders of a church

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

describing a religious claim or teaching that the recognized leaders of a church have officially said is false because it contradicts their established doctrine.

Example

The monk was accused of spreading heretical teachings about the nature of the soul.

heretical teachings about + topic

Fatima's heretical interpretation of the sacred texts led to her expulsion from the religious order.

heretical interpretation of + sacred text

Common collocations
  • heretical belief
  • heretical teaching
  • heretical doctrine
  • heretical statement
  • heretical writing
  • branded as heretical
  • declared heretical
Synonyms
  • unorthodox

    much milder — can simply mean unusual without accusation of falsehood

  • blasphemous

    more about showing disrespect toward God or sacred things, rather than holding a wrong belief

  • apostate

    noun only — describes a person who has completely abandoned the faith, not a belief itself

Antonyms
  • orthodox

    describes beliefs that follow the official teachings of the church

  • doctrinally sound

    describes beliefs that agree with established religious doctrine

Grammar Patterns

heretical + noun (belief, teaching, doctrine)

declare something heretical

be branded as heretical

Usage Note

Historically associated with religious courts and inquisitions. In modern use, this sense is still active within conservative religious communities; outside those contexts, sense 1 is more appropriate.

Common Mistakes

The chef's heretical recipe used pineapple on pizza.
The chef's unorthodox recipe used pineapple on pizza.
heretical in its religious sense should only be used for beliefs that contradict formal church doctrine, not for unconventional food choices.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All three words describe a departure from established ideas, but with important differences. Unorthodox is the mildest — it simply means 'not following the usual way' and can even be complimentary ('an unorthodox but effective method'). Dissenting focuses on the act of disagreeing with a majority or authority, often in a political or institutional setting ('dissenting opinion in court'). Iconoclastic is the most forceful — it comes from the Greek for 'image-breaker' and suggests an active, even aggressive attack on cherished traditions. Heretical lies between dissenting and iconoclastic in strength: it implies that the idea is not just unusual but forbidden, and that holding it brings social or institutional disapproval. For example, a teacher's suggestion to let students grade themselves might be called unorthodox by colleagues, dissenting by the principal, heretical by the school board — or iconoclastic by the local newspaper, depending on who is describing it.

unorthodox ↗dissenting ↗iconoclastic ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • deeply heretical
  • openly heretical
  • dangerously heretical
  • politically heretical

Phrases

  • considered heretical
  • deemed heretical
  • branded as heretical
  • denounced as heretical

Prepositions

  • heretical to

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

Heretical comes from the Latin haereticus, borrowed from the Greek hairetikos, meaning 'able to choose.' In early Christian Greek, a hairesis was a school of thought or a chosen set of beliefs. As the church grew more powerful, the word narrowed: a heresy became not just any chosen belief, but one that the church had rejected. By the time the word reached English through Old French in the 1300s, heretical already carried its modern meaning of 'holding a belief condemned by religious authority.' The shift from 'choice' to 'wrong choice' reflects how the early church defined correct belief as something received from tradition, not individually chosen.

First known use

15th century

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1