idolatry

American  

[ahy-dol-uh-tree] / aɪˈdɒl ə tri /

noun

idolatries plural

1. the religious worship of idols.

2. excessive or blind adoration, reverence, devotion, etc.

   Synonyms:

   mania, madness, obsession

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idolatry British  

/ aɪˈdɒlətrɪ /

noun

1. the worship of idols

2. great devotion or reverence

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Usage

What does idolatry mean? Idolatry is the worship of an idol or idols—objects or images, such as statues, that are worshipped as the representations of deities or gods. The word idol can also refer to the deity or god that is being worshipped. Idolatry is sometimes called idol worship and the people who worship idols can be called idolaters. The adjective idolatrous can be used to describe idolaters or their practices. This sense of idolatry and its related terms are typically used in a negative, judgmental way, implying that the god that the idol represents is not actually real and that such idolatry is wrong or sinful. In this way, an idol is sometimes called a false idol. A well-known example of idolatry mentioned in a story in the Bible involves a statue of a golden calf that the Israelites were said to have made while Moses was away receiving the Ten Commandments (which prohibit idolatry and the worship of “graven images”). Sometimes, idol is used in a metaphorical way to compare something to an object of religious devotion and worship, and such devotion can also be called idolatry, as in The endless pursuit of wealth is a form of idolatry. This sense of the word is also used in a critical way. Idol is also commonly used in a figurative way to refer to a person, especially a famous celebrity such as a pop singer, whom someone treats with extreme admiration and devotion. The word sometimes implies that such devotion is excessive, likening it to religious worship. The word idolatry can be used to refer to this kind of fandom, but it is much more commonly used in a religious context. Example: Most people don’t bow down before statues, but they engage in other forms of idolatry, like an obsession with material possessions.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• idolatrously
  adverb
• self-idolatry
  noun
• idolatress
  noun
• idolater
  noun
• idolatrous
  adjective
• idolatrousness
  noun

Inflected Forms

noun

• idolatries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of idolatry

1200–50; Middle English idolatrie < Medieval Latin īdōlatrīa, by haplology from Late Latin īdōlolatrīa Greek (NT) eidōlolatreía. See idol, -latry

Explanation

Idolatry means the worship of images as if they were gods. Many religions prohibit idolatry, some even to the extent of forbidding any representational objects in houses of worship. Idol sits at the head of the word idolatry. If you worship — or even just look up to — a person or a thing, you are said to idolize them. For some modern idolaters, money is their idol, while for others it is celebrities, and for still others their jobs.

Example Sentences

The title of this book, “The Idolatry of God,” is immediately provocative.

From Salon • Apr. 21, 2013

Idolatry has made of R. L. S. a figure dizzily perched on the precarious eminence of perfection.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Nemesis of Superstition and Idolatry is ever the same.

From The Revision Revised by Burgon, John William

There Superstition sits upon her throne; there Idolatry shapes her monsters, and there Religion reveals her glories.

From Caxton's Book: A Collection of Essays, Poems, Tales, and Sketches. by Rhodes, W. H. (William Henry)

Religion, as such, is always concrete. 159-1 Half a century ago the learned Mr. Faber, in his Origin of Pagan Idolatry, expressed his astonishment at “the singular, minute and regular accordance” between the classical myths.

From The Religious Sentiment Its Source and Aim: A Contribution to the Science and Philosophy of Religion by Brinton, Daniel Garrison

Related Words

• adulation