Meaning & use
heathen
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Meanings
nouncountableold-fashionedoffensive
A dated and insulting word for a person whose religion is not one of the major ones, used by people who consider themselves believers.
Grammar: Plural heathens; once used about whole peoples with the heathen.
Patterns
- the heathens
Missionaries once used the word heathen for people of other faiths, a use now seen as insulting.
In old texts, a heathen was anyone outside the writer's own faith.
Describing someone as a heathen today would be considered rude.
nouncountablehumorousinformal
A person seen as uncivilized or without good manners, usually said in jest.
Grammar: Often playful, aimed at friends: you heathen!
Patterns
- you heathen
You put ketchup on a steak? You heathen!
My brother is a heathen who eats cereal with water.
She called me a heathen for skipping the dessert.
Word forms
| plural | heathens |
|---|
Common combinations
- you heathen
- You never saw that classic film? You heathen!
- heathen lands
- The hymn mentions heathen lands in an older sense.
- heathen gods
- The sermon warned against heathen gods.
- heathen practices
- Early chroniclers condemned supposed heathen practices.
- a little heathen
- The toddler, a little heathen, drew on the wall.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pagan
- Pagan is the more neutral historical term for followers of polytheistic religions, and some modern groups use it proudly.
- infidel
- Infidel is stronger and more hostile, meaning an unbeliever from the viewpoint of a particular faith.
- barbarian
- Barbarian stresses a lack of culture rather than religion.
- philistine
- Philistine means someone indifferent to art and culture, a jokey use close to the playful sense of heathen.
Opposites
Word family
- heathenism noun
- the beliefs or practices of heathens
- heathenish adjective
- like a heathen; uncivilized
- heath noun
- open uncultivated land, from which the word historically derives
Commonly confused: heathen or heather?
heathen vs heather
Heather is a purple-flowered plant of moorlands, and it only sounds similar.
Practice
Which use of heathen is most likely to cause real offense?
Choose one answer.
Applying heathen seriously to a person's religion is insulting. The jokey and historical uses do not target anyone's faith.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “heathen”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.