messiah figure
Expected divine liberator
A messiah figure is someone regarded as a savior or liberator, especially one expected to rescue a group from suffering or oppression.
The term draws on the Jewish and Christian concept of an anointed deliverer but applies broadly to political leaders, revolutionaries, or cultural icons invested with outsized hopes: The movement was waiting for a messiah figure to unite them.
Often carries undertones of naïve or dangerous expectation.
- saviorOne who rescues another
- prophetDivinely inspired messenger
- chosen oneProphesied special individual
- chosen peopleDivinely selected group
- redeemerOne who saves another
deliverer · anointed · second coming · cult leader · divine · worship · followers · disciples · charisma · cult of personality · salvation · born again · martyr · resurrection · promised · promised land · holy · spiritual leader
- heroeshero, heroes, heroine, heroines, superhero
- public figurespolitician, celebrity, activist, journalist, pundit
- fictional clergyFather Brown, Friar Tuck, Ned Flanders, fallen priest, abbess
- prophecyprophecy, prophet, seer, prophets, prophetess
messiah figureantichrist
Enemy of the faith
destroyer · false prophet · doom-bringer · devil figure · demon
messiah figureAntichrist
Prophesied opponent of Christ
beast · fallen angel · heretic · apostate
messiah, messianic, figure, figures, figured, figuring, figurine, figurative, figuratively