This compound adjective (alpha-privative + theos) means "without God" and can denote either practical atheism or being separated from knowledge of the true God. Paul uses it in Ephesians 2:12 to describe the Gentiles' former spiritual condition—they were "without God in the world." The term doesn't necessarily mean philosophical atheism but rather living without covenant relationship to the God of Israel, being strangers to His promises and without hope. The word captures the desolate spiritual state of paganism: not merely ignorance of deity but exclusion from the saving purposes and presence of the true God.