a body of persons adhering to a particular religious faith; a religious denomination.
a group regarded as heretical or as deviating from a generally accepted religious tradition.
(in the sociology of religion) a Christian denomination characterized by insistence on strict qualifications for membership, as distinguished from the more inclusive groups called churches.
any group, party, or faction united by a specific doctrine or under a doctrinal leader.
a subdivision of a larger religious group (esp the Christian Church as a whole) the members of which have to some extent diverged from the rest by developing deviating beliefs, practices, etc
derogatory
a schismatic religious body characterized by an attitude of exclusivity in contrast to the more inclusive religious groups called denominations or Churches
a religious group regarded as extreme or heretical
a group of people with a common interest, doctrine, etc; faction
1300–50; Middle English secte < Latin secta something to follow, pathway, course of conduct, school of thought, probably noun derivative of sectārī to pursue, accompany, wait upon, frequentative of sequī to follow
From Latin sectus, past participle of secāre “to cut”
A sect is a religious group that exists inside of a larger religion. Think of it as a section of a particular religion. Although objectively speaking a sect is merely a subdivision of a larger religious group, the word often carries with it the feeling of a part of a religion that has broken away. It often has a negative connotation in English because it implies that the group departed from what was standard to believe something different or odd. If you are comparing two sects you might talk about their sectarian differences.
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These minute works are packed with detail: Their flickering candles, flitting moths and glowering skulls appear as if they’ve been excavated from some illuminated manuscript belonging to a long-vanished medieval sect.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
Wednesday's decision means liquidation proceedings will begin and the sect will no longer benefit from tax exemption, although the group can still appeal to the top court.
From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026
The narrative begins with a religious ritual that situates her as a member of Syria’s minority Alawite sect, a variant of Shi’a Islam.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2026
The church has been thrown into crisis since more than 1,500 current and former members of the sect contacted a hotline set up by campaign group, Advocates for The Truth, in 2023.
From BBC • Feb. 15, 2026
I scribbled Okay on my own notebook and then turned to a blank page as Dr. Hyde started talking about Sufism, the mystical sect of Islam.
From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
