English

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Etymology

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From Middle English, borrowed from Middle French eretical and from Medieval Latin haereticālis, from haereticus, equivalent to heretic +‎ -al. See heretic.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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heretical (comparative more heretical, superlative most heretical)

  1. Of or pertaining to heresy or heretics.
    • 1996, Maurice Wiles, “[The End of Arianism] Gothic Christianity”, in Archetypal Heresy: Arianism through the Centuries, Oxford, Oxon: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, page 43:
      At least as Auxentius reports him in the covering letter which precedes Ulfila’s confession, he is as vehement in his opposition to what he sees as heretical alternatives to his own form of belief as most other participants in the controversies of the time. Heretics are not Christians but antichrists. Homoousians, Homoiousians, and Macedonians are all included in this blanket condemnation.
  2. (of ideas or views) Contrary to mainstream or accepted opinion.
    Synonym: unorthodox

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