misbeliever

1 9.9

A person whose religious beliefs differ from the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church

noun
/ˌmɪs.bɪˈliː.vər/

Slur

: hereje

In discussions about faith, he often referred to those who disagreed with him as misbelievers, emphasizing his adherence to traditional doctrine.

Examples

Many early Christians faced persecution for being labeled as misbelievers by the dominant religious authorities of their time.
This faith cannot have a misbeliever or a kind heart leading it and I have done what I have done to ensure...

Riddick (2013)
You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, and spit upon my Jewish gaberdine.

The Merchant of Venice (2004)
The priest warned the congregation about the dangers of becoming a misbeliever and straying from the teachings of the Church.

Synonyms

heretic

vsmisbeliever

Formal

38 8.8

A person who holds beliefs that go against accepted religious teaching

specifically differs from Roman Catholic accepted doctrine rather than general opposition

unbeliever

vsmisbeliever

22 5.4

A person who does not accept a religion, idea, or set of teachings

has beliefs that differ from Roman Catholic teaching rather than lacking belief

nonbeliever

vsmisbeliever

12 5.2

A person who does not believe in God or in any religion

differs from Roman Catholic doctrine rather than merely lacking belief

disbeliever

vsmisbeliever

5 5.5

A person who does not accept an idea or religion

focuses on religious disagreement with Roman Catholic teaching not just doubt

Antonyms

believer

335 3.2

A person who accepts something as true and often supports it, for example a religion or idea

Surface Forms

misbeliever singular

misbelievers plural

Morphology

misbeliever = believer (transparent) = mis + believe + er

Formed by the productive prefix 'mis-' plus the noun 'believer'; the meaning 'one who holds wrong or unacceptable beliefs' is directly inferable.

Etymology

Misbeliever is built from mis- meaning 'wrong' (as in mistake or misunderstand) and believer meaning 'someone who believes'. So a misbeliever is literally 'someone who believes wrongly', a word once used for a person the church saw as having the wrong religious beliefs.