cultist

noun

cult·​ist ˈkəl-tist 

plural cultists

: a member of a cult: such as

a

: a devotee or member of a religious cult

In 1826 … Shakers were persecuted as cultists distinguished by their use of dance in worship, their celibacy and their belief in their founder, Mother Ann, as equal to Jesus.

—Robert Minkoff

b

: one who exhibits great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, etc.

… at a time when the Kinks don't even have an American record deal, it's heartening for aging Kinks cultists that Ray Davies has found a domestic publisher for X-Ray: The Unauthorized Autobiography, a book that was published in England last year.

—David Wild

Although Pierce has seen reruns of the actress's films, he insists he is not a [Marilyn] Monroe cultist.

—David Wallace

If the paranoid cultists and survivalists are right, and the apocalypse is right around the corner, who do we want leading the nation through the pestilence, famine and plagues of locusts?

—Sparkle Hayter

Examples of cultist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

When cultists butcher one of their families back on Earth, the emotional chasm between the two careens toward a deadly conclusion. —Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 29 Oct. 2024

Such innocuous forms of teenage rebellion as heavy metal fandom or Dungeons & Dragons could get a kid branded a cultist—if not a murderer. —Judy Berman, TIME, 30 Oct. 2024

However, some players complained that the spawn rates of cultists in Tarkov was still not high enough to make the event easy to complete, with many struggling to find the hooded figures in raids. —Mike Stubbs, Forbes, 18 Oct. 2024

Yes, Rivendell’s over-all vibe hews toward the crunchy and outdoorsy, but there are just as many of us cultists locking our beloved steel frames to parking signs and sidewalk bike racks. —The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024

Read More: Why Sauron Can Change Form on The Rings of Power At the end of Season 1, the Stranger defeated the cultists in battle. —Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 17 Sep. 2024

Especially not Joker’s cultists — Lee chief among them. —David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 4 Sep. 2024

The 37 scariest movies of all time 12 of 15 The Wicker Man (1975) A procession of pagan cultists in animal masks led us to the shocking twist at the end of this horror classic. —Bronwyn Barnes, EW.com, 15 Aug. 2024

Entwined in the lives and strange practices of the cultists and their firebrand leader, Malcolm Howe (Michael Sheen), Thomas soon realizes the god being worshipped isn't the one from his own lost scripture. —Matt Kamen, WIRED, 6 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1898, in the meaning defined above