as in parochial
not broad or open in views or opinions
there are people on both the left and the right who have staked out unyielding sectarian positions in this debate
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in partisan
one who stubbornly or intolerantly adheres to his or her own opinions and prejudices
charged that the work of Congress has been stymied by sectarians who are indifferent to reason and intolerant of compromise
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sectarian
Youmna Melhem Chamieh, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
There have been some sectarian attacks but mostly against members of Assad's minority Alawite sect.
—Bassem Mroue, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Dec. 2024
Robert Barnes, Anchorage Daily News, 20 June 2019
Lebanon’s unique sectarian make up and place in the region make its politics about local issues like jobs, infrastructure, and garbage collection as well as about regional rivalries and alliances.
—Ben Hubbard, BostonGlobe.com, 7 May 2018
See all Example Sentences for sectarian 
Adjective
For her, Lebanon’s endless crises were demonstrative of the real country, too saturated with sectarian divisions to ever hope for freedom from foreign control.
—Youmna Melhem Chamieh, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
There have been some sectarian attacks but mostly against members of Assad's minority Alawite sect.
—Bassem Mroue, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Dec. 2024
Noun
Quite the contrary, the image of the cross makes the war memorial sectarian.
—Robert Barnes, Anchorage Daily News, 20 June 2019
Lebanon’s unique sectarian make up and place in the region make its politics about local issues like jobs, infrastructure, and garbage collection as well as about regional rivalries and alliances.
—Ben Hubbard, BostonGlobe.com, 7 May 2018
See all Example Sentences for sectarian
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sectarian
Adjective
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Columbus Today Columbus is no longer the parochial, third-tier Midwestern city big dreamers must leave in order to fulfil their potential.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes,
6 Jan. 2025
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But parochial political feuds and byzantine zoning codes have hampered LA’s efforts to get more new housing off the ground.—
Carly Stern,
Vox,
6 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Like today, partisans were divided over what colleges should teach.—
Johann Neem / Made by History,
TIME,
2 Jan. 2025
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This is particularly true in recent years, when partisans' views of crime have tended to change based on the party of the president.—
George Monastiriakos,
Newsweek,
31 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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But the smoke is still rising, and petty partisanship is a distraction and disservice at the moment, given all that’s been lost, and all the hard work of moving forward.—
Steve Lopez,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Jan. 2025
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In an era of steadily declining trust in media, the dry formalities of a legal template provide not only an imprimatur of institutional credibility, but also the freedom to go into extreme amounts of detail without seeming petty, tedious or self-indulgent.—
Eleanor Hawkins,
Axios,
9 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Sitting in front of local leaders, Trump again wrongly blamed elements of the fire disaster on a lack of water resources coming from the Delta and environmental protections for the delta smelt, a small fish near extinction that has become a symbol of GOP frustration.—
Ari Plachta,
Sacramento Bee,
25 Jan. 2025
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Imagine rewiring your belief in yourself even on a small stage, but in front of millions.—
Matthew Futterman,
The Athletic,
25 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The large table serves as the primary crafting area; the narrow wood desk is her workstation.—
Ella Field,
Better Homes & Gardens,
25 Jan. 2025
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Think narrow sections with extra weight in the middle to give you more control for day-to-day styling at home.—
Fiona Embleton,
Glamour,
25 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near sectarian
Cite this Entry
“Sectarian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sectarian. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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