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View synonyms for sectarian

sectarian

[ sek-tair-ee-uhn ]

adjective

  1. of or relating to sectaries or sects.
  2. narrowly confined or devoted to a particular sect.
  3. narrowly confined or limited in interest, purpose, scope, etc.


noun

  1. a member of a sect.
  2. a bigoted or narrow-minded adherent of a sect.

sectarian

/ sɛkˈtɛərɪən /

adjective

  1. of, belonging or relating to, or characteristic of sects or sectaries
  2. adhering to a particular sect, faction, or doctrine
  3. narrow-minded, esp as a result of rigid adherence to a particular sect


noun

  1. a member of a sect or faction, esp one who is bigoted in his adherence to its doctrines or in his intolerance towards other sects, etc

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Derived Forms

  • secˈtarianˌism, noun

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Other Words From

  • sec·tari·an·ly adverb
  • unsec·tari·an adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of sectarian1

First recorded in 1640–50; sectary + -an

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Example Sentences

This led to the formation of a Christian militant group to counter the rebels, and all-out sectarian violence exploded.

After the Iranian Revolution, discrimination took on a sectarian flavor.

Sectarian strife now empowers the civil wars in Syria, Iraq and Yemen and Al Qaedaism flourishes in the chaos.

If the U.S. does nothing, the Arab world will continue its slide into sectarian bigotry, political repression, and madness.

The war back then was clearly becoming more sectarian and Islamic—the trajectory was obvious.

They called themselves by no sectarian name, nor could they have told to what “party” they belonged.

She describes him as a dangerous sectarian, a veritable sorcerer, and the evil genius of one of her own relatives.

This sectarian policy has borne bitter fruit in Ireland, in the alienation of a great mass of the Irish people.

Let him sit with me here any night on my housetop and he will see the sad effects of sectarian reform and newspaper hysteria.

Bunyan had a perfect wealth of sectarian scurrility at his command.

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sectsectarianism