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atheist

AY-thee-ist/ˈeɪθiɪst/

Pluralatheists

8 meanings of atheist

Practice

  1. 1
    nouncountable
    Someone who does not believe that any gods exist.

    Like someone who doesn't believe in ghosts, but about gods instead.

    My uncle is an atheist and never goes to church.

    As an atheist, she finds peace in nature instead of prayer.

    Similarnonbeliever, unbeliever, disbeliever

    Oppositebeliever, theist

    Note
  2. 2
    nouncountable
    Someone who is sure that no gods exist, or that you can prove there are none.

    A firm atheist will tell you there is simply no god, full stop.

    She became a convinced atheist, certain that no deity could possibly be real.

    Similardisbeliever, unbeliever, nonbeliever

    Oppositebeliever, theist

    Note
  3. 3
    nouncountable
    Someone who doubts that any gods exist, even if they are not completely sure.

    My grandfather called himself an atheist, though he mostly just doubted that gods were real.

    Plenty of atheists are simply unsure rather than firmly against the idea of a god.

    Similardoubter, skeptic, unbeliever

    Oppositebeliever, theist

    Note
  4. 4
    adjective
    Having to do with atheists or with not believing in gods.

    She comes from an atheist family that never celebrated religious holidays.

    The club has a strongly atheist outlook on questions of faith.

    Similarsecular, irreligious, nonreligious, unbelieving

    Oppositereligious, theistic

  5. 5
    nouncountable
    Anyone who does not believe in gods, even a child who has never heard of religion.

    By this wide meaning, a baby is technically an atheist until taught about gods.

    Some thinkers count all newborns as atheists from birth.

    Similarnonbeliever, unbeliever

    Oppositebeliever, theist

    Note
  6. 6
    nouncountable
    Someone who follows no religion at all, not even one without gods.

    She calls herself an atheist mainly because she has no religion at all.

    Many atheists in this sense simply avoid all religious practice.

    Similarnonbeliever, unbeliever

    Oppositebeliever

    Note

Less common meanings

  1. 7
    nounrarecountable
    Someone who does not believe in one certain god, but might believe in a different one.

    To his neighbors he was an atheist, since he refused to worship their god.

    You can be an atheist about one god and still pray to another.

    Similarunbeliever

    Oppositebeliever

    Note
  2. 8
    verbraretransitive
    To turn someone into a person who does not believe in gods.

    Bad experiences with the church can atheist a young believer fast.

    The scandal atheisted half the congregation within a year.

    Note

Practice

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Origin

It comes from a Greek word átheos, meaning 'without god', made from 'a-' (without) and 'theós' (god).