Apostatise is the act of abandoning one's religious faith or political beliefs. The crossword solutions for this term include DESERT (6 letters), TURN (4 letters), DEFECT (6 letters), ABANDON (7 letters), EVADE (5 letters), pussyfoot (9 letters), EQUIVOCATE (10 letters), FENCE (5 letters), HEDGE (5 letters), PREVARICATE (11 letters), DODGE (5 letters), and AVOID (5 letters). All of these words refer to actions that involve leaving a belief system, either literally or figuratively.