heathen
Infidel to missionaries
Heathen originally meant someone who didn't follow Christianity, Judaism, or Islam—a pagan or unbeliever.
The word carries connotations of being uncivilized or irreligious: The missionaries sought to convert the heathens.
In casual use, heathen often appears humorously to describe someone lacking manners or culture: Were you raised by heathens?
The adjective form describes pagan practices or beliefs: heathen rituals.
Nonbeliever in another's creed
- unbelieverOne lacking faith
- nonbelieverOne lacking religious faith
- gentileOf non-Hebrew peoples
- unconvertedNot changed to something else
unsaved · idolater · apostate · heretic · sinner · lost soul · convert · proselyte
Lacking social graces
- barbaricSavagely cruel, uncivilized
- savageFierce and untamed
- godlessLacking belief in deities
- unholyWicked, impious, sinful
impious · profane · uncouth · irreverent · blasphemous · uncultured · philistine · boorish
One denying gods exist
- agnosticFlexible across platforms
- skepticOne who doubts claims
- freethinkerRejects doctrine for reason
- humanistEthics-focused secular philosopher
rationalist · secularist · nonreligious · irreligious · materialist · worldly · unchurched · lapsed
Belief in multiple deities
- idolatryVeneration of false gods
- pantheonAll gods of a religion
- deitiesWorshipped supernatural beings
- druidAncient Celtic priest-scholar
shaman · priestess · ritual · sacrifice · altar · oracle · divination · temple
Medieval Nordic raider
- GothEast Germanic tribesman
- SaxonEarly Germanic Briton settler
- CeltAncient European tribesperson
- NorseAncient Scandinavian civilization
Germanic · tribe · pre-Christian · ancestors · barbarian · Vandal · Visigoth · Norseman
Belief opposing official doctrine
- martyrVictim for beliefs
- martyrdomSuffering for conviction
- blasphemyIrreverence toward the sacred
- apostasyRenunciation of former beliefs
Inquisition · Crusades · forced conversion · pogrom · burning · stake · trial · witch hunt
infidel
Nonbeliever in another's creed
- unbelieverOne lacking faith
- nonbelieverOne lacking religious faith
- gentileOf non-Hebrew peoples
unconverted · unsaved · idolater · apostate · heretic · sinner · lost soul · convert · proselyte · missionary
uncivilized
Lacking social graces
unholy · impious · profane · uncouth · irreverent · blasphemous · uncultured · philistine · boorish · brutish
atheist
One denying gods exist
- agnosticFlexible across platforms
- skepticOne who doubts claims
- freethinkerRejects doctrine for reason
humanist · rationalist · secularist · nonreligious · irreligious · materialist · worldly · unchurched · lapsed
polytheism
Belief in multiple deities
druid · shaman · priestess · ritual · sacrifice · altar · oracle · divination · temple · worship
Viking
Medieval Nordic raider
Norse · Germanic · tribe · pre-Christian · ancestors · barbarian · Vandal · Visigoth · Norseman · raider
heresy
Belief opposing official doctrine
apostasy · Inquisition · Crusades · forced conversion · pogrom · burning · stake · trial · witch hunt · banishment
- religionChristianity, Islam, beliefs, Judaism, Hinduism
- VikingsViking, longships, longship, raiding, Norse settlers
- Viking AgeVikings, longships, raiders, Odin, Norse settlers
- nonbelieversatheist, atheists, agnostic, agnostics, nonbeliever
- paganismWicca, pagan, polytheist, polytheism, paganism
- sectarianismsectarianism, sectarian, sect, schism, schismatic