Added 8 October 2026
cult
/kʌlt/ noun
In Latin: cultus Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about cult at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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The veneration, devotion, and religious rites given to a deity (especially in a historical polytheistic context), or (in a Christian context) to a saint; a subset of worship.
imperial cult
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A group of people having an obsession with or intense admiration for a particular activity, idea, person or thing.
the heavy metal cult
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A group, sect or movement following an unorthodox religious or philosophical system of beliefs, especially one in which members remove and exclude themselves from greater society, including family members not part of the cult, and show extreme devotion to a charismatic leader.
Two former cult members explain the difficulties they had extricating themselves from it.
adjective
Origin
Derived from French culte, from Latin cultus (“care, adoration; cult”), from colō (“cultivate; protect”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)