# cult

Pronunciation: US say "KULT" /kʌlt/; UK

## Noun

1. An unorthodox religious or philosophical movement whose members cut themselves off from wider society and show extreme devotion to a charismatic leader.
   - Simple: A small religious group that lives apart from others and obeys one powerful leader completely.
   - _Investigators spent years trying to free the teenagers trapped inside the remote desert cult._
   - _Former members described how the cult punished anyone who dared to question its founder._
3. A devoted following that admires a particular person, idea, activity, or thing with intense or obsessive enthusiasm. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A group of people who love a certain thing, person, or hobby very much.
   - _A devoted cult formed around the indie director long before mainstream critics noticed her._
   - _Sourdough baking has its own cult, complete with starters passed down for years._
4. The veneration, devotion, and religious rites offered to a deity or, in Christian usage, to a saint, as one part of worship.
   - Simple: The special worship, prayers, and ceremonies given to a god or a saint.
   - _The cult of Isis spread across the Roman Empire, with temples from Egypt to Britain._
   - _Devotion to the martyr grew into an organized cult, complete with annual feast days._

## Adjective

2. Loved by a small and intensely loyal following rather than by the wider public.
   - Simple: Liked by a small but very loyal group of fans.
   - _The series never topped the ratings, yet it earned a fierce cult reputation among night-shift viewers._
   - _Quoted endlessly at conventions, the flop grew into a genuine cult phenomenon._
5. Relating to a cult, or to its members, beliefs, and practices.
   - Simple: Connected to a cult, or to the things a cult does and believes.
   - _The documentary explored the cult practices that drew hundreds of new followers each year._
   - _Investigators traced the cult symbols carved into the walls of the abandoned compound._

## Origin

Latin colō ("cultivate, protect") gave rise to cultus ("care, adoration, cult"), which became French culte, the source of the English word.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cult (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).