cult

[ kuhlt ]
See synonyms for cult on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies.

  2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, especially as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.

  1. the object of such devotion.

  2. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.

  3. Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.

  4. a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.

  5. the members of such a religion or sect.

  6. any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.

adjective
  1. of or relating to a cult.

  2. of, for, or attracting a small group of devotees: a cult movie.

Origin of cult

1
First recorded in 1610–20; from Latin cultus “habitation, tilling, refinement, worship,” equivalent to cul-, variant stem of colere “to inhabit, till, worship” + -tus, suffix of verb action

Other words from cult

  • cultic, cul·tu·al [kuhl-choo-uhl], /ˈkʌl tʃu əl/, adjective
  • cultish, adjective
  • an·ti·cult, noun, adjective

Words Nearby cult

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cult in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cult

cult

/ (kʌlt) /


noun
  1. a specific system of religious worship, esp with reference to its rites and deity

  2. a sect devoted to such a system

  1. a quasi-religious organization using devious psychological techniques to gain and control adherents

  2. sociol a group having an exclusive ideology and ritual practices centred on sacred symbols, esp one characterized by lack of organizational structure

  3. intense interest in and devotion to a person, idea, or activity: the cult of yoga

  4. the person, idea, etc, arousing such devotion

    • something regarded as fashionable or significant by a particular group

    • (as modifier): a cult show

  5. (modifier) of, relating to, or characteristic of a cult or cults: a cult figure

Origin of cult

1
C17: from Latin cultus cultivation, refinement, from colere to till

Derived forms of cult

  • cultism, noun
  • cultist, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for cult

cult

In anthropology, an organization for the conduct of ritual, magical, or other religious observances. Many so-called primitive tribes, for example, have ancestor cults, in which dead ancestors are considered divine and activities are organized to respect their memory and invoke their aid. A cult is also a religious group held together by a dominant, often charismatic individual, or by the worship of a divinity, an idol, or some other object. (See animism (see also animism), fetish, and totemism.)

Notes for cult

The term cult often suggests extreme beliefs and bizarre behavior.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.