1.NounThe veneration, devotion, and religious rites given to a deity (especially in a historical polytheistic context), or (in a Christian context) to a saint; a subset of worship.
"imperial cult; the cult of Mary"
2.NounA group of people having an obsession with or intense admiration for a particular activity, idea, person or thing.
"the heavy metal cult; the cult of basketball; the guitarist's cult of loyal fans; the cult of celebrity"
3.NounA group, sect or movement following an unorthodox religious or philosophical system of beliefs, especially one in which members remove and exclude themselves from greater society, including family members not part of the cult, and show extreme devotion to a charismatic leader.
"Two former cult members explain the difficulties they had extricating themselves from it."