sectary
Americannoun
-
sectaries
plural
-
a member of a particular sect, especially an adherent of a religious body regarded as heretical or schismatic.
-
a Protestant of nonconformist denomination, especially a minor one.
-
a person zealously devoted to a particular sect.
noun
-
a member of a sect, esp a person who belongs to a religious sect that is regarded as heretical or schismatic
-
a person excessively devoted to a particular sect
-
a member of a Nonconformist denomination, esp one that is small
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sectary
1550–60; < Medieval Latin sectārius, equivalent to sect ( a ) sect + -ārius -ary
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The latter was commissioned by the home sectary and Sir Ken.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2025
An ex-senior adviser recalled being sent a document about a reform agenda and a permanent sectary ordering them to "just bin it immediately".
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2023
Harcourt threw himself into the prosecution with the fervor and the bitterness of a sectary and a partisan.
From A History of the Four Georges, Volume I by Justin McCarthy
Nevertheless I felt it incumbent to speak somewhat harshly to the yet sulking sectary for such untimely uproar.
From Prisoners of Chance The Story of What Befell Geoffrey Benteen, Borderman, through His Love for a Lady of France by Randall Parrish
We slowly won our way backward, the effort requiring every pound of our combined strength, De Noyan and I tugging breathlessly at the stern, the sectary doing yeoman service at the bow.
From Prisoners of Chance The Story of What Befell Geoffrey Benteen, Borderman, through His Love for a Lady of France by Randall Parrish
Salon called and emailed the offices of sectaries Kerry and Carter, as well as the Departments of State and Defense, multiple times with requests for comment.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2016
These new California sectaries around Miller are no exception.
From Time Magazine Archive
Her father gets his graceful due: To truth a shield, to right a wall, To sectaries a whip and maul.
From Time Magazine Archive
Their chief centre was Wetterau, where, in the house of Count Casimir von Berleburg, all persecuted pietists, separatists, fanatics, and sectaries found refuge.
From Church History, Vol. 3 of 3 by J. H. Kurtz
But when he came to close quarters with these sectaries, he discovered that they could teach him nothing, and their mysterious Imám vanished into space.
From A Literary History of the Arabs by Reynold Nicholson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
