cultist

noun

cult·​ist ˈkəl-tist How to pronounce cultist (audio)
plural cultists
: a member of a cult: such as
a
: a devotee or member of a religious cult
In 1826 … Shakers were persecuted as cultists distinguished by their use of dance in worship, their celibacy and their belief in their founder, Mother Ann, as equal to Jesus.Robert Minkoff
b
: one who exhibits great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, etc.
… at a time when the Kinks don't even have an American record deal, it's heartening for aging Kinks cultists that Ray Davies has found a domestic publisher for X-Ray: The Unauthorized Autobiography, a book that was published in England last year.David Wild
Although Pierce has seen reruns of the actress's films, he insists he is not a [Marilyn] Monroe cultist.David Wallace
If the paranoid cultists and survivalists are right, and the apocalypse is right around the corner, who do we want leading the nation through the pestilence, famine and plagues of locusts?Sparkle Hayter

Examples of cultist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Entwined in the lives and strange practices of the cultists and their firebrand leader, Malcolm Howe (Michael Sheen), Thomas soon realizes the god being worshipped isn't the one from his own lost scripture. Matt Kamen, WIRED, 6 July 2024 Still, this particular yarn belongs to Stone, who tears into the part of the devoted cultist with fearless determination. Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 21 June 2024 His campaign sent out emails asking his cultists to help fight all the corruption in our justice system. Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 19 Feb. 2024 His arrival coincided with the 30th anniversary of the deadly confrontation that took place nearby between heavily armed Branch Davidian cultists and federal law enforcement. Jon D. Michaels, Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2024 But whether or not blood is the ultimate catalyst here also remains unclear; the cultists soon begin heaving and breathing out loud as if to summon something from the deep. Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 Mar. 2024 Skepticism endured: at a 2007 conference on A.I., some computer scientists made a spoof video suggesting that the deep-learning crowd was made up of cultists akin to Scientologists. Charles Duhigg, The New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2023 The story of a young woman who goes in search of her father only to discover his small town has been overrun by cultists, the film features a particularly unsettling scene set in a Ralphs, which may be all too familiar to some Angelenos. Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2023 But Pelosi, who grew up listening to opera waft through the streets of Baltimore’s Little Italy, is a genuine tie-dyed in the wool Deadhead, as cultists and aficionados of the group are known. Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cultist.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1898, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cultist was in 1898

Dictionary Entries Near cultist

Cite this Entry

“Cultist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cultist. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.

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