idolater

noun

idol·​a·​ter ī-ˈdä-lə-tər How to pronounce idolater (audio)
variants or idolator
1
: a worshipper of idols
2
: a person that admires intensely and often blindly one that is not usually a subject of worship

Examples of idolater in a Sentence

an ancient civilization of pantheists and idolaters
Recent Examples on the Web Throngs of idolaters gather just to watch the team buses arrive. Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 5 Feb. 2024 Of course, Moses is overcome when seeing the golden calf, breaks the tablets, and then commends the Levites for punishing the idolaters (32:19, 26‒29). Rabbi Avi Weiss, Sun Sentinel, 6 Mar. 2023 The personification of those enthusiasms was the composer John Cage—a student of Schoenberg, a devotee of Eastern thought, and an idolater of Duchamp. Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 13 June 2022 Carpenter, like Valenti, was an idolater, but the journalists had the same feeling. Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2021 His Wagner book, which placed its subject in the larger intellectual context of his times, infuriated idolaters, for whom the master could do no wrong. Margalit Fox, New York Times, 18 May 2016

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'idolater.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of idolater was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near idolater

Cite this Entry

“Idolater.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idolater. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

idolater

noun
idol·​a·​ter
variants or idolator
1
: a worshipper of idols
2
: a person who admires or loves greatly

More from Merriam-Webster on idolater

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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