atheist

noun

athe·ist ˈā-thē-ist

Synonyms of atheist next

: a person who does not believe in the existence of a god or any gods : one who subscribes to or advocates atheism

atheistic

ˌā-thē-ˈi-stik

adjective

or atheistical

ˌā-thē-ˈi-sti-kəl

atheistically

ˌā-thē-ˈi-sti-k(ə-)lē

adverb

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How Agnostic Differs From Atheist

Atheist and agnostic appear in the same contexts but are distinct in meaning. Atheist refers to someone who does not believe in the existence of a god or any gods. Agnostic has two relevant meanings: it can refer to someone who holds the view that any ultimate reality, such as God, is unknown and probably unknowable, or it can refer to someone who is not committed to believing in either the existence or nonexistence of God or a god.

Agnostic first appeared in print in 1869 (it was possibly coined by the English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley), and was formed from the Greek agnōstos, meaning "unknown, unknowable." Atheist came to English from the French athéisme. Although both words share the prefix a-, meaning "without," the main body of each word is quite different. Agnostic ultimately comes from the Greek root gignōskein, meaning "know" (also the source of such words as know and prognosis). Atheist shares the root theo, meaning "god," with such words as theology and theism.

Examples of atheist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Currently, roughly 70 percent of active-duty personnel identify as Christian, with substantial numbers of atheists, agnostics, Jews, Muslims, and affiliates of Eastern religions in the ranks. —

Joseph Epstein, Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2024 My father was a strict atheist, and my mother was agnostic. —

Calvin Tomkins, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024 Image The Lamb Center’s Bible studies reflect Christian teachings, but all are welcome and the sessions have drawn Muslims, Buddhists and atheists. —

Moriah Ratner, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2024 An additional surprising insight shown above and going beyond the 7-out-of-10 statistic is that even atheists purportedly believe in angels (well, admittedly just a minuscule 2%) and that a sizable portion of agnostics do (coming in at a whopping 25% or one-quarter). —

Lance Eliot, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for atheist