noun
- a person who refuses to conform, as to established customs, attitudes, or ideas.
- (often initial capital letter) a Protestant in England who is not a member of the Church of England; dissenter.
noun
- a person who does not conform to generally accepted patterns of behaviour or thought
adjective
- of or characterized by behaviour that does not conform to generally accepted patterns
noun
- a member of a Protestant denomination that dissents from an Established Church, esp the Church of England
adjective
- of, relating to, or denoting Nonconformists
Protestants in England in the seventeenth century and afterward who refused to belong to the Church of England, which was the established church (see also established church) for Protestants in the country. Many Protestant churches in the United States, such as the Congregationalists, are rooted in the teachings of the English Nonconformists. The Nonconformists are also called Dissenters.