iconoclast

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“
The rôle of the iconoclast is a thankless one and I confess to a liking for Dolly, but I have discovered in Washington's cash memorandum book under date of May 17, 1784, the entry: "By a Cream Machine for Ice," Ł1.13.4--that is an ice-cream freezer.

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun One who attacks and seeks to overthrow traditional or popular ideas or institutions.
  2. noun One who destroys sacred religious images.
  3. Word History
    An iconoclast can be unpleasant company, but at least the modern iconoclast only attacks such things as ideas and institutions. The original iconoclasts destroyed countless works of art. Eikonoklastēs, the ancestor of our word, was first formed in Medieval Greek from the elements eikōn, "image, likeness,” and -klastēs, "breaker,” from klān, "to break.” The images referred to by the word are religious images, which were the subject of controversy among Christians of the Byzantine Empire in the 8th and 9th centuries, when iconoclasm was at its height. In addition to destroying many sculptures and paintings, those opposed to images attempted to have them barred from display and veneration. During the Protestant Reformation images in churches were again felt to be idolatrous and were once more banned and destroyed. It is around this time that iconoclast, the descendant of the Greek word, is first recorded in English (1641), with reference to the Byzantine iconoclasts. In the 19th century iconoclast took on the secular sense that it has today, as in "Kant was the great iconoclast” (James Martineau).

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Examples (50)

  • He was an iconoclast, and devoted his life to the business of image-breaking, and, of course, the breaking in pieces of the idols of the people created a great tumult. —  Personal Recollections of Pardee Butler
  • The role of the iconoclast is a thankless one and I confess to a liking for Dolly, but I have discovered in Washington's cash memorandum book under date of May 17, 1784, the entry: “By a Cream Machine for Ice,” L1.13.4—that is an ice-cream freezer. —  George Washington: Farmer
  • I must confess that my sympathies were with her rather than with the iconoclast, despite his gifts and graces CHAPTER LX. —  Autobiography of Andrew Dickson White, V2
  • By definition a liberal tends to be something of an iconoclast, a rebel, someone who pushes against the establishment while conservatives tend to support these institutions. —  The Moderate Voice
  • AUNT DAN AND LEMON is directed by Royal Court artistic director Wallace Shawn is a true iconoclast, and I have been a fan of his work for many years.
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French iconoclaste, from Medieval Greek eikonoklastēs, smasher of religious images : eikono-, icono- + Greek -klastēs, breaker (from Greek klān, klas-, to break).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French iconoclaste = Spanish Portuguese Italian iconoclasta, from Middle Greek New Greek εἰκονοκλάστης, from Greek εἰκών, an image, + *κλάστης, a breaker (cf. κλάστης, a vine-dresser), from κλᾶν, break.
 

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/aɪˈkɑnəklæst/
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