Definition of "cult" []

• A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader. (noun)
• The followers of such a religion or sect. (noun)
• A system or community of religious worship and ritual. (noun)
• The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual. (noun)
• A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "To use the term cult too casually risks tarring the merely unconventional, for which America has long been a safe harbor."
• "For the first time ever, the term cult came to her mind."
• "That's the question former BB guestblogger Occult America, recently tackled in the Wall Street Journal: To use the term cult too casually risks tarring the merely unconventional, for which America has long been a safe harbor."