noun
/ˈfeɪθɪst/
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Plural: faithists
Derived from: faith + -ist
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Definitions:
1. A person who discriminates against or shows prejudice toward individuals or groups based on their religion, spiritual beliefs, or lack thereof.
> “The law prohibits employers from acting as faithists when hiring—religious affiliation should have no bearing on the job.”
2. (rare, informal) A person who holds blind, uncritical allegiance to faith-based ideology, often rejecting reason, evidence, or inquiry.
> “You can’t argue with a faithist; they’ve already decided that facts are optional.”
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Usage Notes:
Faithist is religion-neutral. It can refer to
discrimination against the religious (e.g., an atheist mocking believers), by the religious (e.g., a Christian denouncing non-Christians), or across faiths (e.g., sectarian violence on Muslims over Hindus).
It also applies to those who hold faith as infallible, rejecting dissent, science, or
critical thinking.
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Synonyms:
Religious bigot
Sectarian (contextual)
Theocratic supremacist
Spiritual supremacist
Antonyms:
Pluralist
Tolerant
Secular
Rationalist
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Etymology:
faith (Middle English feith, from Anglo-French feid, from Latin fides)
+
-ist (a suffix forming agent nouns from verbs or nouns, denoting adherents, advocates, or practitioners)
