Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Not in agreement with accepted beliefs, especially in church doctrine or dogma.
  • adjective Holding unorthodox opinions.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In theology, holding opinions not in accord with some generally recognized standard of doctrine, such as the creed of a church or the decrees of councils; not orthodox; heretical.
  • Hence, in general Not in accord with the established standard of belief.
  • noun An opinion not in accord with that which is generally accepted; a peculiar view.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Contrary to, or differing from, some acknowledged standard, as the Bible, the creed of a church, the decree of a council, and the like; not orthodox; heretical; -- said of opinions, doctrines, books, etc., esp. upon theological subjects.
  • adjective Holding heterodox opinions, or doctrines not orthodox; heretical; -- said of persons.
  • noun obsolete An opinion opposed to some accepted standard.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to creeds, beliefs, or teachings, especially religious ones, that are different from the norm ('orthodox'), but not sufficiently different to be called heretical.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective characterized by departure from accepted beliefs or standards

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek heterodoxos : hetero-, hetero- + doxa, opinion (from dokein, to think; see dek- in Indo-European roots).]

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  • Heard this multiple times when listening to Will Self (always a source of new words) on the radio.

    February 28, 2018