as in bigotry
stubborn or intolerant adherence to one's opinions or prejudices
an ideological sectarianism that prevented the political party from ever being anything more than a fringe group
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sectarianism
Noun
-
However, John Jay, a Protestant and first chief justice of the Supreme Court, once accused Catholics of spreading bigotry, persecution, murder and being a threat to America.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
12 Mar. 2026 -
The statement’s open bigotry is jarring.—
David A. Graham,
The Atlantic,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
But for the audience the scariest revelation in the conversation isn’t his dogmatism.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
1 Mar. 2026
-
That — metaphorically and literally — is earned dogmatism, the risk that expertise breeds rigidity in our thinking and decision-making.—
Tim Maurer,
Forbes.com,
31 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Lactose intolerance, which prevents your small intestine from producing enough lactase, an enzyme needed to digest lactose, a sugar naturally found in dairy products.—
Caroline Tien,
SELF,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Your choice of milk depends on your nutritional needs, allergies, intolerances, and dietary preferences.—
Angela Ryan Lee,
Verywell Health,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The judge dismissed the charges with prejudice, meaning that the case cannot be retried.—
Ruby Cramer,
New Yorker,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Male medical professionals then, having read Hippocrates, knew the basics about how menstruation worked, yet superstition, prejudice, and misinformation circulated largely unchecked.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Beyond the artificial perimeter of the Studio Zone, the country itself has been no less turbulent — fractured by partisanship, fighting over immigration and staring down the prospect of another endless war in the Middle East.—
Maer Roshan,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Mar. 2026
-
From start to finish, ugly hyper-partisanship was on full display.—
Bobby Zirkin,
Baltimore Sun,
26 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Orban and Putin once shared a close working relationship, grounded in energy deals and mutual illiberalism.—
NIC CHEESEMAN,
Foreign Affairs,
16 Dec. 2025
-
Space warfare, cyber defense, mass migration, corruption, and illiberalism require fluency, adaptability, empathy, and collaboration.—
Loree Sutton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
But there are still all sorts of offline implications to ditching interpersonal interactions in favor of platforms prone to cognitive biases.—
Emily Saladino,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
9 Mar. 2026
-
That’s backed by minor-league data, in addition to a general sense that the emotional bias of pitchers clouds their objectivity.—
Aaron Gleeman,
New York Times,
6 Mar. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Sectarianism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sectarianism. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
