Nimr al Nimr was a driving force behind the anti-government protests in the east of the Sunni-ruled country during the Arab Spring in 2011.
There are fears his death may spark fresh unrest among Saudi's Shia minority and in neighbouring Bahrain, where demonstrators have already taken to the streets.
However, the 56-year-old's brother has called for a "peaceful" response to the execution. saying the family did not want to see further bloodshed.
The list of those executed did not include al Nimr's nephew, Ali al Nimr, who was 17 when he was arrested in 2012.
Reports he had been sentenced to death sparked global outrage because of his age and the severity of the punishment.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to intervene. The UK has close ties with Saudi Arabia.
Most on the list were detained after a series of attacks by al Qaeda between 2003 and 2006 in which hundreds of people were killed. Four, including al Nimr, were Shias accused of shooting policemen.
In a statement the Interior Ministry said the 47 had been convicted of adopting the radical "takfiri" ideology, joining "terrorist organisations" and implementing various "criminal plots".
All but two - an Egyptian and a Chadian- were Saudi nationals. The executions took place in 12 cities in Saudi Arabia, with four prisons using firing squads and the others beheading.
Saudi Arabia's top cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al Sheikh, said taking their lives was a "mercy to the prisoners" as it would save them from committing more evil acts.
Criticism of al Nimr's execution has been led by Shia-dominated Iran, Saudi Arabia's main rival in the Middle East.
nistry warned the kingdom would "pay a high price", while a leading Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, predicted the repercussions will "wipe" the Saudi ruling family "from the pages of history".
That view was shared by former Iraqi PM Nouri al Maliki who said in a statement al Nimr's death "will topple the Saudi regime".
The Lebanese militant group Hizbollah called it an "assassination" and the country's Supreme Islamic Shia Council described it as a "grave mistake".
In the UK, Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn said carrying out the death sentence on al Nimr was "profoundly wrong".
Scores of people held a demonstration outside the Saudi embassy in London in protest at the executions.
Shane Enright of Amnesty International UK said the death penalty was "unacceptable in all circumstances" and was particularly concerned that a number of "peaceful dissidents" had been killed, including al Nimr.
The international human rights group Reprieve said it showed the Saudi government was "continuing to target those who have called for domestic reform in the kingdom".
Al Nimr's family said they were shocked but did not want his execution to result in any more bloodshed.
His brother Mohammed al Nimr told Reuters: "Sheikh Nimr enjoyed high esteem in his community and within Muslim society in general and no doubt there will be reaction.
"We hope that any reactions would be confined to a peaceful framework. No one should have any reaction outside this peaceful framework. Enough bloodshed."
Last year 157 people were put to death in Saudi Arabia, compared to 90 in 2014.
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