Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.
  • noun The followers of such a religion or sect.
  • noun A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
  • noun The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual.
  • noun A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.
  • noun Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.
  • noun The object of such devotion.
  • noun An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Homage; worship; by extension, devoted attention to or veneration for a particular person or thing: as, the Shaksperian cult.
  • noun A system of religious belief and worship; especially, the rites and ceremonies employed in worship. Also cultus.
  • noun A subject of devoted attention or study; that in which one is earnestly or absorbingly interested.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Attentive care; homage; worship.
  • noun A system of religious belief and worship.
  • noun A system of intense religious veneration of a particular person, idea, or object, especially one considered spurious or irrational by traditional religious bodies.
  • noun The group of individuals who adhere to a cult (senses 2 or 3).
  • noun A strong devotion or interest in a particular person, idea or thing without religious associations, or the people holding such an interest.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A group of people with a religious, philosophical or cultural identity sometimes viewed as a sect, often existing on the margins of society or exploitative towards its members.
  • noun Devotion to a saint.
  • adjective Of, or relating to a cult.
  • adjective Enjoyed by a small, loyal group.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun followers of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices
  • noun followers of an unorthodox, extremist, or false religion or sect who often live outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader
  • noun a system of religious beliefs and rituals
  • noun a religion or sect that is generally considered to be unorthodox, extremist, or false
  • noun an interest followed with exaggerated zeal

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin cultus, worship, from past participle of colere, to cultivate; see kwel- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French culte, from Latin cultus ("care, adoration; cult"), from colō ("cultivate; protect").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cult.

Examples

  • To use the term cult too casually risks tarring the merely unconventional, for which America has long been a safe harbor.

    When Does a Religion Become a Cult? Mitch Horowitz 2011

  • For the first time ever, the term cult came to her mind.

    The Stolen CELIA THOMSON 2003

  • For the first time ever, the term cult came to her mind.

    The Stolen CELIA THOMSON 2003

  • That's the question former BB guestblogger Occult America, recently tackled in the Wall Street Journal: To use the term cult too casually risks tarring the merely unconventional, for which America has long been a safe harbor.

    Boing Boing David Pescovitz 2011

  • ‡ The term cult often suggests extreme beliefs and bizarre behavior.

    cult 2002

  • Likewise, the term "cult" in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2011

  • KING: It was in a conversation with reporters after that Dr. Jeffress used the term cult.

    Crooks and Liars scarce 2011

  • Sociologists started using the word cult with some regularity in the 1970s, to distinguish emerging groups like the

    Slate Articles Brian Palmer 2011

  • Academics largely abandoned the word cult in the 1980s.

    Slate Articles Brian Palmer 2011

  • According to, Miscavige, everyone who criticises the cult is a crook or, as he puts it in R&R, “We do not find critics of Scientology who do not have criminal backgrounds.”

    Scientologists, WWII Star of David spoof 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Don't join dangerous cults, practice safe sects!

    October 21, 2008