apostate

(ə-pŏs'tāt', -tĭt)
n.
One who has abandoned one's religious faith, a political party, one's principles, or a cause.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin apostata, from Greek apostatēs, from aphistanai, to revolt. See apostasy.]

apostate a·pos'tate' adj.

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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

A person who has defected: defector, deserter, recreant, renegade, runagate, tergiversator, turncoat. Informal rat. See approach/retreat.

n

Definition: traitor
Antonyms: adherent, faithful, loyalist

A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce

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.

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For a list of words related to apostate, see:

• Bad, False, Evil, Insincere, or Dishonest
• Individuals and Titles - apostate: deserter of religious faith

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See words rhyming with "apostate."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Apostate.

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

Italiano (Italian)
apostata

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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