# heathen

/ˈhiðən/ (US) · /hˈiːðən/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/heathen
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 2. uncultured person

noun · CEFR C2 · Informal · Humorous

someone who has no manners or does not appreciate art and culture.

For teachers: a person regarded as uncultured, ill-mannered, or lacking in refined tastes.

- My mother called us heathens because we were eating pizza with our hands on the sofa.
- The critics dismissed the rowdy audience as a pack of heathens who were incapable of appreciating the nuances of the performance.

### 3. not religious

adjective · CEFR C2 · Literary

describing a person or group that does not follow a main world religion.

For teachers: pertaining to people or customs that do not align with Abrahamic religious traditions.

- The explorers wrote about the heathen customs they observed in the distant islands.
- The missionary's journals are filled with descriptions of heathen rituals that he sought to replace with his own faith.

## Examples

- He felt like a heathen because he didn't know the local customs.
- The missionaries traveled to remote islands to spread their faith among the people they labeled as heathens.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.