cult noun, often attributive \ˈkəlt\
- formal religious veneration : worship
- a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
- a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
- a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <health cults>
- a: great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad
c: a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion
- — cul·tic adjective
- — cult·ish adjective
- — cult·ish·ly adverb
- — cult·ish·ness noun
- — cult·ism noun
- — cult·ist noun
- — cult·like adjective
Examples of CULT
- She has developed a cult following.
- <long after it had gone off the air, the TV series continued to have a huge cult>
Origin of CULT
- French & Latin; French culte, from Latin cultus care, adoration, from colere to cultivate — more at wheel
- First Known Use: 1617
Related to CULT
Synonyms: audience, followership, following
Other Religion (Eastern and Other) Terms
Zen, antinomian, avatar, gnosticism, illuminati, ineffable, karma, koan, mantra
cult abbreviation (Medical Dictionary)
Medical Definition of CULT
culture
cult noun (Concise Encyclopedia)
Collective veneration or worship (e.g., the cult of the saints—meaning collective veneration of the saints—in Roman Catholicism). In the West, the term has come to be used for groups that are perceived to have deviated from normative religions in belief and practice. They typically have a charismatic leader and attract followers who are in some way disenfranchised from the mainstream of society. Cults as thus defined are often viewed as foreign or dangerous.
