
[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin apostata, from Greek apostatēs, from aphistanai, to revolt. See apostasy.]
apostate a·pos'tate' adj.
According to New York Times columnist Frank Rich, some members of the right who formerly believed in President Bush are finding it hard to maintain that belief:
"The Miers nomination, whatever its fate, will be remembered as the flashpoint when the faith-based Bush base finally started to lose faith in our propaganda president and join the apostate American majority."
Link: The Faith-Based President Defrocked
Posted October 11, 2005.
See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.
noun
n.
A leech who, having penetrated the shell of a turtle only to find that the creature has long been dead, deems it expedient to form a new attachment to a fresh turtle.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - apostat, frafalden
adj. - frafalden
Nederlands (Dutch)
afvallig(e)
Français (French)
n. - apostat(e)
adj. - apostat(e)
Deutsch (German)
n. - Abtrünniger
adj. - abtrünnig
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (θρησκ., μτφ.) αποστάτης, εξωμότης
Português (Portuguese)
n. - apóstata (m) (f), renegado (m)
Русский (Russian)
отступник, ренегат
Español (Spanish)
n. - apóstata
adj. - apóstata
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - avfälling
中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
变节者, 脱党者, 背教者, 变节的, 脱党的, 背教的
中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 變節者, 脫黨者, 背教者
adj. - 變節的, 脫黨的, 背教的
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 배교자[배신자]
adj. - 배신적인[반당적인]
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 背教者, 変節者
adj. - 背教した, 背教の
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) مرتد
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - מומר, בוגד, משומד
adj. - מומר
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