apostatize
apostatized; apostatizing; apostatizes
To apostatize is to give up a belief. Your best friend may do her best to sway you to change your basketball allegiance from the Celtics to the Lakers, but you refuse to apostatize.
When someone renounces their religious principles, leaving one faith for another or ceasing to believe at all, they apostatize. The Latin root, apostata, means "one who forsakes religion or faith." This is the most common way to use this verb, but it also works well for changes in political belief: "I never thought he'd apostatize, but he's now a registered Democrat."
Definitions of apostatize
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abandon one's beliefs or allegiances
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synonyms:
apostatise, tergiversate
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘apostatize'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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