Definition of "heretic" []

• A person who holds controversial opinions, especially one who publicly dissents from the officially accepted dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. (noun)
• Heretical. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The root meaning of the word heretic is “able to choose,” a fun fact I thought about a lot in 2002 when we stayed at the Hotel Ponte Sisto in Rome."
• "It may be well to note here the way in which the term heretic is to be understood in this declaration."
• "If by the term heretic we are to imply moral guilt, I am not justified in applying it to any Christian, unless his doctrines are positively sinful, or there is something wicked, either in the way of dishonesty or bitterness, in his manner of maintaining them."