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
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.
The Founding Fathers knew of the fate of the 3,000 idolaters who prayed at the golden calf while Moses conversed with God on Mount Sinai, and of the money-changers driven from the Temple by Jesus. Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 11 July 2024 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

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 26 Nov. 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

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!