1
a
: a dissenting or schismatic religious body
especially
: one regarded as extreme or heretical
b
: a religious denomination
2
archaic
: sex sense 1
So is all her sect …—
William Shakespeare
William ShakespeareExamples of sect in a Sentence
Noun
one sect of medical researchers holds the minority view that the disease is not caused by that virus
Recent Examples on the Web
Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Amanda Seyfried stars as the founder of the devotional sect known as the Shakers, who expressed their religion through spiritual ecstasy in dance and song.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 28 Dec. 2025
Members of his sect have been subjected to crackdowns.
—Arkansas Online, 27 Dec. 2025
The film tells the story of Shakerism—the separatist Christian sect founded by Ann Lee in the mid-18th century.
—Lila Allen, Architectural Digest, 26 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sect
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Noun
How to commemorate a religious sect that was unique, tolerant, forward-thinking, unjustly antagonized—but also short-lived, cultish, poorly documented, and fixated on fire and brimstone?
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Amanda Seyfried stars as the founder of the devotional sect known as the Shakers, who expressed their religion through spiritual ecstasy in dance and song.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 28 Dec. 2025
Members of his sect have been subjected to crackdowns.
—Arkansas Online, 27 Dec. 2025
The film tells the story of Shakerism—the separatist Christian sect founded by Ann Lee in the mid-18th century.
—Lila Allen, Architectural Digest, 26 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sect
Cite this Entry
“Sect.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sect. Accessed 31 Dec. 2025.
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