misotheism

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Hatred of God or gods.

Word forms

misotheism

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek μισόθεος (misótheos, “hating the gods”), from μίσος (mísos, “hatred”) + θεός (theós, “god”). The Greek compound is found in Aeschylus (Agamemnon 1090; compare dystheism). The English word appears as a nonce-coinage, used by T. De Quincey in 1846. Attested as worthy of revival due to having a newfound historical prevalence by Bernard Schweizer in 2002. The term's purported exclusion of atheists and agnostics disputed by Patheos in 2011.

Related words

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