iconoclasts
/aɪˈkɒnklæsts/ · i·con·clast
noun
- People who destroy religious images or icons, especially opponents of the Orthodox Church in the 8th–9th centuries or Puritans during the European Reformation. The iconoclasts of the Byzantine empire razed countless mosaics in the Hagia Sophia.
- Individuals who oppose established orthodoxy or religious doctrine; adherents of the doctrine of iconoclasm. During the council, the iconoclasts argued that any depiction of the divine was idolatrous.
- Those who attack or reject cherished beliefs, traditions, or institutions in a broader, figurative sense. The filmmaker was praised as an iconoclast for challenging Hollywood’s conventional storytelling.
Did you know? Victor Hugo famously called himself an iconoclast in the preface to his novel *Les Misérables*, using the term to champion social and literary rebellion.