sect
noun
Simple meaning
An offshoot of a larger religion or denomination.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sehktIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsɛkt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An offshoot of a larger religion or denomination.
A group following a specific ideal or a leader.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An offshoot of a larger religion or denomination.
Used this way, sect is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a religious use: it carries the weight of tradition and ceremony.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Religion/spirituality
- Historical writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use sect
- “The small sect of followers lived a very secluded life away from the main community.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.