sectarianism

[ sek-tair-ee-uh-niz-uh m ]

/ sɛkˈtɛər i əˌnɪz əm /

sectarian spirit or tendencies; excessive devotion to a particular sect, especially in religion.

Nearby words

First recorded in 1810–20; sectarian + -ism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

The West says far too little about the cancer of sectarianism.
Why’s Al Qaeda So Strong? Washington Has (Literally) No idea|Bruce Riedel|November 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This from a regime that never shies from accusing other countries of stoking “sectarianism.”
Russia Stages a Coup in Crimea|Michael Weiss|March 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Most Lebanese parties are genuinely trying to avoid an epidemic of sectarianism.
Is Syria Being 'Lebanized' or is Lebanon Being 'Syrianized'?|Hussein Ibish|August 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Half-way around the world and almost three generations later, the sectarianism that made my family leave Lebanon still follows me.
This Islamophobe Is An Arab-American Christian Like Me|Anna Lekas Miller|September 17, 2012|DAILY BEAST

This vast sweep of subject-matter has a grand effect of countering any tendency to polemic or sectarianism.
David's Book Club: In the Shadow of the Sword|David Frum|June 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
One evening, last winter, was devoted to the discussion of Sectarianism.
Jonathan and His Continent|Max O'Rell
Verily, if this is what any mean by sectarianism, then the more we have of it in our common schools the better.
Popular Education|Ira Mayhew
Its severity has been sometimes justified on the ground that sectarianism has had a political as well as a religious significance.
Russia|Donald Mackenzie Wallace
In the first ages of sectarianism a state of celibacy was quite in accordance with their surroundings.
Russia|Donald Mackenzie Wallace
There must be no sectarianism, whether political or religious, in our public schools, but there must be truth and duty there.
Thirty Years In Hell|Bernard Fresenborg

1670s, "disposition to petty sects in opposition to things established" [Johnson]; see sectarian + -ism.