cult
cult Lexical Profile
cult Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A relatively small, unorthodox religious or ideological group characterized by extreme devotion to a charismatic leader and strict control over its members.
"She wrote a bestselling memoir about her childhood inside a secluded cult and her eventual return to mainstream society."
Intense, misplaced, or obsessive admiration and devotion directed toward a particular person, ideal, cultural movement, or object.
"Modern fitness culture sometimes borders on a cult of youth and physical perfection."
A formal system of religious veneration, ritual, and liturgy directed toward a specific deity, saint, or sacred figure (used especially in historical and anthropological contexts).
"Archaeologists uncovered an ancient temple dedicated to the local cult of Apollo."
• adjective
Popular or fashionable only among a dedicated, enthusiastic, and often niche group of admirers.
"The low-budget science fiction film flopped at the box office but later became a beloved cult classic."
Word Nuance & Usage
In everyday modern usage, 'cult' carries strong pejorative connotations of fanaticism and manipulation; however, in academic religious studies and history, it is used neutrally to describe a specific system of ritual veneration, such as the ancient cult of Isis.
• Rhymes for cult
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 17th century from French culte, from Latin cultus ('care, cultivation, worship'), which derives from the verb colere ('to till, inhabit, or worship')—the same root that gave English 'culture' and 'cultivate'.