First recorded in 1980–85; from Latin American Spanish, equivalent to santer(o) “person practicing Santería” ( Spanish sant(o) saint + -ero, from Latin -ārius -ary ) + -ía -ia
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Lucumí is all about survival and care,” explained Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesús, a professor of American studies at Princeton University and author of “Electric Santería: Racial and Sexual Assemblages of Transnational Religion.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2025
Santería was born as a form of quiet resistance among Cuba’s Black communities.
From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2024
Depictions of roses, a skull, a goat and a Santería evil eye dance around them, illuminated in sepia spotlights and looking like they could have come straight from a deck of tarot cards.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 6, 2023
Perhaps the brightest of the girls, Squeeze, of Puerto Rican and Haitian background, discusses the fine points of Santería practice with Pipe, who wants the club rituals to open a portal to the supernatural.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2023
The ones who wear white are following the Santería tradition.
From "Pride" by Ibi Zoboi
They include a Baptist, a Muslim, a Seventh-Day Adventist and two practitioners of Santeria, as well as an atheist.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 1, 2024
“Let’s talk about Voodoo and Santeria and how they’ve been demonized through history and why they’ve been demonized,” she said.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 2, 2022
Growing up with grandparents who were from Cuba, who practiced Santeria, I think traditions and celebrations have always been interesting to me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2022
His art draws on his Afro-Dominican American identity, as well as on a religious upbringing that incorporated Catholicism, Evangelical Christianity, Vodun, Santeria and Afro-Caribbean spiritual practices.
From New York Times ● Sep. 7, 2022
Unregistered evangelical churches, Mr. Dahlgren said, face “fake charges, and other sorts of really harsh repression mechanism” because of their status, as do followers of Santeria and Yoruba and Palo Mayombe.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 3, 2022
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.
