pagan 1 of 2

noun

ˈpā-gən How to pronounce pagan (audio)
Definition of pagannext
as in gentile
a person who does not worship the God of the Bible the temple was built by pagans in the 4th century as a place to worship their idols

Synonyms & Similar Words

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pagan

2 of 2

adjective

as in secular

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of pagan
Noun
Sometimes he was described as a modern-day Cyrus, a Persian king and a pagan in the Hebrew Bible whom God nevertheless anointed and would use for his purposes. — Peter Wehner, The Atlantic, 10 June 2026 Why would pagans want a coin with a Christian on it? — Sarah Durn, Popular Science, 8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
There’s more than a tinge of folk horror to this lingering mystery, which brings to mind the 1973 genre landmark The Wicker Man, in which a puritanical police officer travels to a remote island community that’s reverted to old pagan ways. — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 15 June 2026 Glenn Turner, the former owner of a pagan and metaphysical shop, is running as a member of the Green Party. — Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for pagan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pagan
  1. gentile
  2. secular
  3. atheist
  4. godless
  5. atheistic
  6. irreligious
  7. nonreligious
Noun
  • Since 1998, the program has both grown alongside and influenced the growth of interest in Yiddish language and culture from a wide swath of society, Jew and gentile, young and old, religious and secular alike.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026
  • From there, the beef between the two couples runs the gamut from faux-gentile to downright nasty.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 17 Apr. 2026
Definition of gentile
Adjective
  • Women had long been leaders and chief ideologues in secular movements – such as in the Weather Underground in the United States, Italy’s Red Brigades, Germany’s Red Army Faction and the Basque separatist group ETA.
    — Sara Harmouch, The Conversation, 1 Oct. 2026
  • The flagship gathering resembles a cross between a Mardi Gras parade, an agricultural expo and a secular revival.
    — Sam Flemming, AJC.com, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of secular
Noun
  • The list no longer includes atheists, Unitarian Universalists, pagans and Wiccans.
    — Tiffany Stanley, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Toward the end of our call, Ochoa tells me his mother, who raised him as an atheist, recently had a religious awakening.
    — Charles Moss, SPIN, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of atheist
Adjective
  • Up to that point, America’s external enemy—the godless Soviets—gave the movement coherence and urgency.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Sometimes this was committed to good, such as the Marshall Plan and the Peace Corps, and sometimes to ill, as in a series of military blunders meant to quash godless Communism.
    — Jim Rasenberger, The Atlantic, 4 July 2026
Definition of godless
Adjective
  • His father's death during World War II influenced his pursuit of the ministry even amid the officially atheistic communist regime of the Soviet Union, according to his obituary on the OCU website.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Mar. 2026
  • But there has been a recent rise in secular congregations that explicitly mimic religious organizations and rituals to celebrate atheistic worldviews.
    — Jacqui Frost, The Conversation, 11 Jan. 2024
Definition of atheistic
Adjective
  • Because materialism had an irreligious connotation, Hattem says it was left out of the national conversation until the Gilded Age of the 1920s, when people start saying the quiet part out loud.
    — Cari Shane, USA Today, 25 June 2026
  • This story is told by an unnamed narrator, an irreligious woman who has joined the nuns as a lay resident after her faith in environmental advocacy crumbled.
    — Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2026
Definition of irreligious
Adjective
  • The rivers of people who crammed central Paris and their joyful enthusiasm rivaled other communal, though nonreligious, moments of celebration that marked France in recent decades.
    — Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2026
  • The rivers of people who crammed central Paris and their joyful enthusiasm rivaled other communal but nonreligious moments of celebration that marked France in recent decades.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of nonreligious

Browse Nearby Words

paeans
pagan
paganish
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Cite this Entry

“Pagan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pagan. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on pagan

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about pagan

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