cult: Meaning and Definition of

cult

Pronunciation: (kult), [key]
— n.
  1. a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
  2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
  3. the object of such devotion.
  4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
  5. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.
  6. a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.
  7. the members of such a religion or sect.
  8. any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.
—adj.
  1. of or pertaining to a cult.
  2. of, for, or attracting a small group of devotees: a cult movie.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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