apostates
Those who renounced
Apostates are people who have abandoned a religious faith, political party, or other belief system they once held.
The term carries strong negative connotations, implying betrayal or disloyalty, and is most often used by those who remain faithful to describe those who have left.
In some religious traditions, apostates face formal shunning or worse consequences.
The church elders declared him an apostate after he publicly renounced his beliefs.
Challenger of official doctrine
- defectorOne who abandons allegiance
- infidelNonbeliever in another's creed
- blasphemerOne who insults deity
- excommunicatedOfficially cut from church
backslider · renegade · disbeliever · unbeliever · fallen · kafir · lapsed · renouncer
One who abandons allegiance
- traitorOne who betrays allegiance
- turncoatOne who betrays allegiance
- dissidentOpposer of established systems
- renegadeDeserter of a cause
deserter · collaborator · quisling · betrayer · rebel · revolutionary · dissenter · double-crosser
Victim for beliefs
- exileBanishment from homeland
- shunningDeliberately avoiding someone
- death penaltyLegal execution for crimes
- fatwahIslamic juridical decree
excommunication · ostracism · disfellowshipping · banishment · punishment · stoning · heresy trial · inquisition
heretic
Challenger of official doctrine
- defectorOne who abandons allegiance
- infidelNonbeliever in another's creed
- blasphemerOne who insults deity
excommunicated · backslider · renegade · disbeliever · unbeliever · fallen · kafir · lapsed · renouncer · forsaker
defector
One who abandons allegiance
- traitorOne who betrays allegiance
- turncoatOne who betrays allegiance
- dissidentOpposer of established systems
renegade · deserter · collaborator · quisling · betrayer · rebel · revolutionary · dissenter · double-crosser · insurgent
martyr
Victim for beliefs
- exileBanishment from homeland
- shunningDeliberately avoiding someone
- death penaltyLegal execution for crimes
fatwah · excommunication · ostracism · disfellowshipping · banishment · punishment · stoning · heresy trial · inquisition · blasphemy law
- dissentersdissenter, dissenters, dissidents, dissident, nonconformists
- nonbelieversatheist, atheists, agnostic, agnostics, nonbeliever
- Persecuted GroupsJews, Romani, Roma, Armenians, Rohingya
- Unbeliefatheism, agnosticism, irreligion, nonbelief, disbelief
- freethinkersfreethinker, freethinkers, secularists, rationalist, rationalists
- Jehovah's WitnessesJehovah's Witnesses, Jehovah, Kingdom Hall, Watchtower, disfellowshipping