Question

iconoclast She's always rattling her friends by saying outrageous things, and she enjoys her reputation as an iconoclast. ˌaɪˈkɑnəˌklæst

Accepted Answer

(1) A person who destroys religious images or opposes their use. (2) A person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions. When the early books of the Bible were being written, most of the other Middle Eastern religions had more than one god; these religions generally encouraged the worship of idols of the various gods, which were often regarded as magical objects. But in the Ten Commandments given to Moses in the Old Testament, God prohibits the making of “graven images” or “idols” for worship, proclaiming that the Jews are to worship only one God, who is too great to be represented in an idol. However, by the 6th century A.D., Christians had begun to create religious images in order to focus the prayers of the faithful. Opposition to icons led to the Iconoclastic Controversy in A.D. 726, when, supported by the pope, iconoclasts began smashing and burning the images in churches and monasteries (clast- comes from the Greek word meaning “to break”). In time, peace was restored, and almost all Christians have since accepted depictions of Jesus, Mary, and the saints. Today an iconoclast is someone who constantly argues with conventional thinking, refusing to “worship” the objects of everyone else's “faith.

word	iconoclast
definition	(1) A person who destroys religious images or opposes their use. (2) A person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions.
eg_sentence	She's always rattling her friends by saying outrageous things, and she enjoys her reputation as an iconoclast.
explanation	When the early books of the Bible were being written, most of the other Middle Eastern religions had more than one god; these religions generally encouraged the worship of idols of the various gods, which were often regarded as magical objects. But in the Ten Commandments given to Moses in the Old Testament, God prohibits the making of “graven images” or “idols” for worship, proclaiming that the Jews are to worship only one God, who is too great to be represented in an idol. However, by the 6th century A.D., Christians had begun to create religious images in order to focus the prayers of the faithful. Opposition to icons led to the Iconoclastic Controversy in A.D. 726, when, supported by the pope, iconoclasts began smashing and burning the images in churches and monasteries (clast- comes from the Greek word meaning “to break”). In time, peace was restored, and almost all Christians have since accepted depictions of Jesus, Mary, and the saints. Today an iconoclast is someone who constantly argues with conventional thinking, refusing to “worship” the objects of everyone else's “faith.
IPA	ˌaɪˈkɑnəˌklæst

Images Iconoclast Person Religious Religions Worship Christians Destroys