Apostate

//əˈpɔs.teɪt// adj, noun

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Guilty of apostasy. not-comparable

    "We must punish this apostate priest."

Adjective
  1. 1
    not faithful to religion or party or cause wordnet
Noun
  1. 1
    A person who has renounced a religion or faith. countable
  2. 2
    a disloyal person who betrays or deserts their cause or religion or political party or friend etc. wordnet
  3. 3
    One who, after having received sacred orders, renounces his clerical profession.
  4. 4
    One who has renounced a political party, a cause, etc. broadly

    "But the most politically damaging blow came from a late-breaking apostate: Mr. Clooney, who just weeks earlier had spent time with Mr. Biden and helped deliver $28 million to his campaign at a Los Angeles fund-raiser."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Late Latin apostata, from Ancient Greek ἀποστάτης (apostátēs, “rebel”), from ἀφίστημι (aphístēmi, “to withdraw, revolt”), from ἀπό (apó, “from”) + ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to stand”).

Etymology 2

From Late Latin apostata, from Ancient Greek ἀποστάτης (apostátēs, “rebel”), from ἀφίστημι (aphístēmi, “to withdraw, revolt”), from ἀπό (apó, “from”) + ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to stand”).

Next best steps

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: apostate