apostate
One who renounces
An apostate is someone who has abandoned their religion, political party, or other cause they once supported.
The word carries weight—it's not casual switching but a renunciation of former beliefs, often viewed as betrayal by those who remain faithful.
The church declared him an apostate after he publicly rejected its teachings.
As an adjective, apostate describes such a person or their actions: apostate beliefs.
Challenger of official doctrine
- blasphemerOne who insults deity
- infidelNonbeliever in another's creed
- unbelieverOne lacking faith
- heathenIrreligious nonbeliever
pagan · backslider · lapsed · excommunicate · anathema · schismatic · recusant · fallen
One who betrays allegiance
- traitorOne who betrays allegiance
- defectorOne who abandons allegiance
- deserterOne who abandons duty
- renegadeDeserter of a cause
recreant · seceder · forsaker · abandoner · rat · quisling · Judas · betrayer
Opposer of established systems
- nonconformistRejects prevailing social standards
- rebelAuthority defier
- iconoclastAttacker of cherished beliefs
- freethinkerRejects doctrine for reason
skeptic · contrarian · reformer · protester · objector · agitator · challenger · questioner
Change in form or faith
- revertReturn to earlier condition
- proselyteReligious convert, especially Jewish
- deconvertAbandon a held belief
- renunciationFormal surrender of claim
abjuration · recantation · disavowal · repudiation · rejection · abandonment · reversal · turning
heretic
Challenger of official doctrine
- blasphemerOne who insults deity
- infidelNonbeliever in another's creed
- unbelieverOne lacking faith
heathen · pagan · backslider · lapsed · excommunicate · anathema · schismatic · recusant · fallen · faithless
turncoat
One who betrays allegiance
renegade · recreant · seceder · forsaker · abandoner · rat · quisling · Judas · betrayer · disloyal
dissident
Opposer of established systems
- nonconformistRejects prevailing social standards
- rebelAuthority defier
- iconoclastAttacker of cherished beliefs
freethinker · skeptic · contrarian · reformer · protester · objector · agitator · challenger · questioner · doubter
convert
Change in form or faith
- revertReturn to earlier condition
- proselyteReligious convert, especially Jewish
- deconvertAbandon a held belief
renunciation · abjuration · recantation · disavowal · repudiation · rejection · abandonment · reversal · turning · leaving
- hereticsheretic, Gnostics, Marcellus, schismatic
- religionChristianity, Islam, beliefs, Judaism, Hinduism
- outsidersoutcast, outsider, outcasts, pariah, misfit
- renegadesrenegade, rebel, traitor, turncoat, defector
- defectiondefection, defect, defector, turncoat, desertion
- dissentersdissenter, dissenters, dissidents, dissident, nonconformists