Definition

1. Noun:

   • A person who renounces a religious or political belief or principle: An apostate is someone who has abandoned a faith, cause, or allegiance to which they were previously committed.
   • A person who deserts a party, group, or set of principles: This term strongly implies a betrayal of a former loyalty.

2. Adjective:

   • Characterized by abandonment of a former loyalty, faith, or principle: Describes a person or action that constitutes such a renunciation or desertion.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • He was labeled an apostate by his former church after he publicly rejected its doctrines.
  • Political apostates were often shunned by their old comrades.

• Adjective:

  • She wrote an apostate manifesto criticizing the party she once led.
  • His apostate views made him a controversial figure among his peers.

Advanced Usage

• "To turn apostate": This phrase describes the act of becoming an apostate.
  • After years of devotion, he turned apostate and denounced the movement.

Variants and Related Words

• Apostasy (n): The act of renouncing or abandoning a faith, principle, or party. This is the state or action associated with being an apostate.
  • His apostasy shocked the entire community.

Synonyms

• Defector: A person who deserts a cause, nation, or organization.
• Renegade: A person who deserts and betrays an organization, country, or set of principles.
• Turncoat: A person who deserts one party or cause to join an opposing one.
• Traitor (in contexts of betrayal): A person who betrays a country, cause, or trust.

Antonyms

• Loyalist: A person who remains loyal to the established ruler or government.
• Devotee: A person who is very interested in and enthusiastic about someone or something; a follower.
• Adherent: Someone who supports a particular party, person, or set of ideas.

Adjective

1. not faithful to religion or party or cause

Noun

1. a disloyal person who betrays or deserts his cause or religion or political party or friend etc.