Definition of cult
- the voodoo cult
- a satanic cult
- criticizing how the media promotes the cult of celebrity
- the singer's cult of fans
- The film has a cult following.
- the cult of Apollo
- health cults
She has developed a cult following.
long after it had gone off the air, the TV series continued to have a huge cult
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cult.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Cult, which shares an origin with culture and cultivate, comes from the Latin cultus, a noun with meanings ranging from "tilling, cultivation" to "training or education" to "adoration." In English, cult has evolved a number of meanings following a fairly logical path. The earliest known uses of the word, recorded in the 17th century, broadly denoted "worship." From here cult came to refer to a specific branch of a religion or the rites and practices of that branch, as in "the cult of Dionysus." By the early 18th century, cult could refer to a non-religious admiration or devotion, such as to a person, idea, or fad ("the cult of success"). Finally, by the 19th century, the word came to be used of "a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious."
credo, creed, faith, persuasion, religion;
church, communion, denomination, sect;
deism, heathenism, monotheism, paganism, pantheism, polytheism, theism;
Zen, antinomian, avatar, gnosticism, illuminati, ineffable, karma, koan, mantra
: a small religious group that is not part of a larger and more accepted religion and that has beliefs regarded by many people as extreme or dangerous
: a situation in which people admire and care about something or someone very much or too much
: a small group of very devoted supporters or fans
Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for cult Spanish Central: Translation of cult Nglish: Translation of cult for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of cult for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about cult
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