Sect

/sɛkt/

Synonyms for "sect" (75 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Closest matches (15)

Strong matches (23)

Noun(2 words)
cultsdenomination

Related words (37)

fellowshipfollowerfollowersgroupinterestinterest groupismminority groupoffshootorderorganizationpartypersuasionpolitical partypressure groupreligionreligious orderschismschoolschool of thought
Show 12 more words
sectarismsegmentsetsidesilent majoritysocietysplintersplinter groupvarietyversionvocal minoritywing
Noun(5 words)
marcionismnichirenreligionreligious orderreligious sect

Choosing the right synonym

  • Closest matches in this entry: faction, adherents, affiliation, anthroposophy, assassins.
  • Sentence evidence is available for sect, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
  • Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, moby, derived_reverse, and related lexical sources.

Synonym selection checklist

  • Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
  • Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
  • Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "sect".
  • Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.

When not to replace "sect"

Keep "sect" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.

If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.

Replacement workflow

1. Preserve meaning

Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "sect" intact in the sentence you are editing.

2. Tune tone

Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.

3. Re-read context

Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.

Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.

Final fit check

After choosing a replacement for "sect", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.

If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "sect" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

5 relation types

More general

11 entries

More specific

2 entries
breakaway sectreligious order

Collocations

6 entries
breakaway sectreligious sectsect leadersectarian ideologysectarian tensionssectarian violence

Inflections

1 entries

Derivations

3 entries

Translations

114 translations across 75 languages.

Powered by Wiktionary

Albanian

1 entries
  • sekt noun (religious movement)

Ancient Greek

1 entries
  • αἵρεσις noun (religious movement)

Arabic

4 entries
  • طائِفَة noun (religious movement)
  • فِرْقَة noun (religious movement)
  • مَذْهَب noun (religious movement)
  • نِحْلَة noun (religious movement)

Armenian

2 entries
  • աղանդ noun (religious movement)
  • սեկտա noun (religious movement)

Azerbaijani

2 entries
  • məzhəb noun (religious movement)
  • sekta noun (religious movement)

Belarusian

2 entries
  • се́кта noun (religious movement)
  • сэ́кта noun (religious movement)

Bengali

2 entries
  • ফেরকা noun (religious movement)
  • সম্প্রদায় noun (religious movement)

Bulgarian

1 entries
  • се́кта noun (religious movement)

Burmese

2 entries
  • ဂိုဏ်း noun (religious movement)
  • နိကာယ noun (religious movement)

Catalan

1 entries
  • secta noun (religious movement)

Chinese Mandarin

3 entries
  • 宗派 noun (religious movement)
  • 教派 noun (religious movement)
  • 邪教 noun (religious movement)

Czech

1 entries
  • sekta noun (religious movement)

Danish

1 entries
  • sekt noun (religious movement)

Dari

2 entries
  • فِرْقَه noun (religious movement)
  • مَذْهَب noun (religious movement)

Dutch

2 entries
  • afscheiding noun (religious movement)
  • sekte noun (religious movement)

Esperanto

1 entries
  • sekto noun (religious movement)

Estonian

1 entries
  • sekt noun (religious movement)

Finnish

1 entries
  • lahko noun (religious movement)

French

1 entries
  • secte noun (religious movement)

Galician

1 entries
  • seita noun (religious movement)

Georgian

1 entries
  • სექტა noun (religious movement)

German

1 entries
  • Sekte noun (religious movement)

Greek

2 entries
  • αίρεση noun (religious movement)
  • σέκτα noun (religious movement)

Gujarati

1 entries
  • પંથ noun (religious movement)

Hebrew

3 entries
  • כִּתָּה noun (religious movement)
  • כַּת noun (religious movement)
  • כיתה noun (religious movement)

Hindi

4 entries
  • निकाय noun (religious movement)
  • पंथ noun (religious movement)
  • फ़िरक़ा noun (religious movement)
  • फिरका noun (religious movement)

Hungarian

1 entries
  • szekta noun (religious movement)

Icelandic

1 entries
  • sértrúarsöfnuður noun (religious movement)

Indonesian

2 entries
  • mazhab noun (religious movement)
  • sekte noun (religious movement)

Interlingua

1 entries
  • secta noun (religious movement)

Iranian Persian

2 entries
  • فِرْقِه noun (religious movement)
  • مَذْهَب noun (religious movement)

Italian

1 entries
  • setta noun (religious movement)

Japanese

4 entries
  • カルト noun (religious movement)
  • セクト noun (religious movement)
  • 分派 noun (religious movement)
  • 宗派 noun (religious movement)

Kazakh

1 entries
  • секта noun (religious movement)

Khmer

1 entries
  • និកាយ noun (religious movement)

Korean

4 entries
  • 교파 noun (religious movement)
  • 분파 noun (religious movement)
  • 섹트 noun (religious movement)
  • 종파 noun (religious movement)

Kumyk

1 entries
  • мазгьап noun (religious movement)

Kyrgyz

1 entries
  • секта noun (religious movement)

Lao

1 entries
  • ນິກາຍ noun (religious movement)

Latin

1 entries
  • cultus noun (religious movement)

Latvian

1 entries
  • sekta noun (religious movement)

Lithuanian

1 entries
  • sekta noun (religious movement)

Luxembourgish

1 entries
  • sekten noun (religious movement)

Macedonian

1 entries
  • секта noun (religious movement)

Malay

2 entries
  • sekta noun (religious movement)
  • taifah noun (religious movement)

Mongolian

1 entries
  • шашны бүлэглэл noun (religious movement)

Norman

1 entries
  • secte noun (religious movement)

Northern Kurdish

1 entries
  • mezheb noun (religious movement)

Norwegian Bokmål

1 entries
  • sekt noun (religious movement)

Ottoman Turkish

2 entries
  • فرقه noun (religious movement)
  • مذهب noun (religious movement)

Pali

1 entries
  • nikāya noun (religious movement)

Pashto

1 entries
  • فرقه noun (religious movement)

Plautdietsch

1 entries
  • Sakjt noun (religious movement)

Polish

1 entries
  • sekta noun (religious movement)

Portuguese

1 entries
  • seita noun (religious movement)

Romanian

1 entries
  • sectă noun (religious movement)

Russian

1 entries
  • се́кта noun (religious movement)

Sanskrit

2 entries
  • निकाय noun (religious movement)
  • सम्प्रदाय noun (religious movement)

Serbo-Croatian

2 entries
  • sȅkta noun (religious movement)
  • се̏кта noun (religious movement)

Slovak

1 entries
  • sekta noun (religious movement)

Slovene

1 entries
  • sekta noun (religious movement)

Spanish

2 entries
  • culto noun (religious movement)
  • secta noun (religious movement)

Swedish

1 entries
  • sekt noun (religious movement)

Tagalog

1 entries
  • sekta noun (religious movement)

Tajik

2 entries
  • мазҳаб noun (religious movement)
  • фирқа noun (religious movement)

Thai

1 entries
  • นิกาย noun (religious movement)

Tibetan

1 entries
  • ཆོས་ལུགས noun (religious movement)

Turkish

1 entries
  • mezhep noun (religious movement)

Turkmen

2 entries
  • mezhep noun (religious movement)
  • sekta noun (religious movement)

Ukrainian

1 entries
  • се́кта noun (religious movement)

Urdu

2 entries
  • فِرْقَہ noun (religious movement)
  • مَذْہَبْ noun (religious movement)

Uyghur

1 entries
  • مەزھەپ noun (religious movement)

Uzbek

3 entries
  • firqa noun (religious movement)
  • mazhab noun (religious movement)
  • sekta noun (religious movement)

Vietnamese

1 entries
  • giáo phái noun (religious movement)

Yiddish

1 entries
  • סעקטע noun (religious movement)

Sample sentences

17 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

We exorcise you, every unclean spirit, every satanic power, every incursion of the infernal adversary, every legion, every congregation and diabolical sect.

Source: tatoeba (1444724)

I didn't know that depending on which sect they belong to, priests don't necessarily have to shave their head.

Source: tatoeba (2698802)

There is nothing I congratulate myself on more heartily than on never having joined a sect.

Source: tatoeba (2977070)

What is a religious sect?

Source: tatoeba (3788110)

Showing 4 of 17 available sentences.

Common questions

What are the closest synonyms for "sect"?

Closest matches include faction, adherents, affiliation, anthroposophy, assassins.

How should I check whether a synonym fits "sect"?

Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.

More for "sect"

Meaning

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