cacodoxy

noun·/kæˈkɑːd.ək.si/

Bad doctrine; obstinate belief that has gone wrong, especially in matters where orthodoxy is policed (religious; learned, rare). Cacodoxy implies a system of wrongness, an error that teaches itself.

He didn’t fear disagreement so much as cacodoxy—the moment a false idea starts sounding like common sense.

Etymology

From Greek roots kako- “bad” + doxa “opinion, belief,” shaped on the model of orthodoxy. The word is a diagnostic term: it doesn’t argue; it labels a belief as diseased.

Related Words

orthodoxythe “right belief” against which cacodoxy is defined
heterodoxydeviation from accepted doctrine, not necessarily “bad”
heresydoctrinal error with the heat of condemnation
doxaopinion as a philosophical category