pagan synonyms

pagan

modif.

unchristian, gentile, idolatrous, heathenish; see atheistic, heathen, impious.

pagan

n.

heathen, idolater, gentile, pantheist, Pyrrhonist, skeptic, doubter, scoffer, heretic, unbeliever, nonbeliever, infidel, paynim, Philistine, Zoroastrian, animist, polytheist, freethinker, atheist, agnostic; see also atheist, skeptic.

Antonyms Christian*, Jew*, Muslim.

pagan and heathen are both applied to polytheistic peoples, but pagan often refers specifically to ancient peoples, esp. the Greeks and Romans, and heathen is applied to peoples regarded as uncivilized or primitive idolaters; gentile (often Gentile) is applied to one who is not a Jew, or, among Mormons, to one who is not a Mormon

Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.