heathen
- 01 C2 Proficiency
n.someone who has no manners or does not appreciate art and culture.
n.a person regarded as uncultured, ill-mannered, or lacking in refined tastes.
Simple“My mother called us heathens because we were eating pizza with our hands on the sofa.”
In context“The critics dismissed the rowdy audience as a pack of heathens who were incapable of appreciating the nuances of the performance.”
Antonymsintellectualsophisticate - 02 C2 Proficiency
adj.describing a person or group that does not follow a main world religion.
adj.pertaining to people or customs that do not align with Abrahamic religious traditions.
Simple“The explorers wrote about the heathen customs they observed in the distant islands.”
In context“The missionary's journals are filled with descriptions of heathen rituals that he sought to replace with his own faith.”
From Middle English hethen, from Old English hǣþen, from Proto-West Germanic haiþin, from Proto-Germanic haiþīnaz (“heathen, pagan”, adjective), equivalent to heath (“heathland”) + -en. Cognate with West Frisian heiden, Dutch heiden, Middle High German heiden, German Heiden, German Heide, Swedish heden, Danish hedensk (from heden+sk), Icelandic heiðinn. See also Proto-Germanic *haiduz, Old Norse heiðr (honour, bright, moor), Icelandic heiður (honour).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.