fanaticism

noun

fa·​nat·​i·​cism fə-ˈna-tə-ˌsi-zəm 

: fanatic outlook or behavior

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The film explores ideas of fanaticism, unquestioning faith, and the exploitation and manipulation of young minds set against an eerie, seemingly endless sea of cornfields. —Colin Scanlon, Redbook, 11 May 2023

None of the lurid predictions — dangerously accelerating sea-level rise, increasingly extreme weather, more deadly forest fires, unprecedented warming, etc. — are any more accurate than the fire-and-brimstone sermons used to stoke fanaticism in medieval crusaders. —Richard Lindzen, National Review, 16 Apr. 2021

And yet, the Heat are not here by accident, having harnessed the prodigious talents of emerging star Bam Adebayo and the volcanic competitiveness of Jimmy Butler, and having translated their fitness fanaticism into crunch-time domination at just the right time. —Eric Walden, The Salt Lake Tribune, 29 Sep. 2020

That word obviously is derived from fanaticism. —Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 10 Mar. 2021

The search for life on Mars was starting to look like very expensive sci-fi fanaticism; after Viking, NASA moved away from life detection on other planets. —Marissa Grunes, Discover Magazine, 6 Apr. 2023

For readers today, many elements in the novel will call to mind our own recent experiences with the coronavirus pandemic, ultranationalist politics, widespread religious fanaticism, the global climate crisis and senseless, brutal wars of attrition around the world. —Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2023

Such is fanaticism! —Ralph Benko, Fortune, 27 Sep. 2020

One of his main points: Just as war promotes poverty, tyranny, inequality and resource depletion at least as much as vice versa, so war promotes fanaticism. —Keith Kloor, Discover Magazine, 15 Aug. 2014

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Word History

First Known Use

1652, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

fanaticism

noun

fa·​nat·​i·​cism fə-ˈnat-ə-ˌsiz-əm 

: fanatic outlook or behavior especially as exhibited by excessive enthusiasm, unreasoning zeal, or wild and extravagant notions on some subject