as in cults
a body of beliefs and practices regarding the supernatural and the worship of one or more deities
the Jewish religion has followers in many parts of the globe
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Recent Examples of religions
As chief chaplains, Dolan and Bernard will oversee a team of clergy members representing the Catholic, Methodist, Jewish, Pentecostal, Muslim and Greek Orthodox religions, according to the NYPD’s website.
—
Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 9 Feb. 2026
Hatred, the bishop added, crosses all boundaries, including politics, ages, religions and opinions.
—Denise Crosby, Chicago Tribune, 8 Feb. 2026
But all of those religions are teaching us how to purify our minds and become a good person in our society.
—Meagan Jordan, Rolling Stone, 8 Feb. 2026
According to the lawsuit, students were not required to take bags, and Robinson offered bags that accommodated other religions or did not include religious messages.
—Dejanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026
In many religions and cultures, women who are menstruating or who just gave birth are not allowed to enter sacred sites, such as temples, or participate in religious rituals.
—Megan Bryson, The Conversation, 5 Feb. 2026
Since 2010, Texas’ high school social studies standards have mentioned Sikhism alongside Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism as major world religions that students need to understand.
—Silas Allen, Dallas Morning News, 29 Jan. 2026
The government dissolved Aum as a tax-exempt religious organization, effectively bankrupting it, and began to scrutinize other new religions, including the Unification Church.
—E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
Many Pacific Northwest tribes have subsisted on the fish for millennia and have woven them into their religions and languages.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 7 Jan. 2026
Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 9 Feb. 2026
Hatred, the bishop added, crosses all boundaries, including politics, ages, religions and opinions.
—Denise Crosby, Chicago Tribune, 8 Feb. 2026
But all of those religions are teaching us how to purify our minds and become a good person in our society.
—Meagan Jordan, Rolling Stone, 8 Feb. 2026
According to the lawsuit, students were not required to take bags, and Robinson offered bags that accommodated other religions or did not include religious messages.
—Dejanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026
In many religions and cultures, women who are menstruating or who just gave birth are not allowed to enter sacred sites, such as temples, or participate in religious rituals.
—Megan Bryson, The Conversation, 5 Feb. 2026
Since 2010, Texas’ high school social studies standards have mentioned Sikhism alongside Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism as major world religions that students need to understand.
—Silas Allen, Dallas Morning News, 29 Jan. 2026
The government dissolved Aum as a tax-exempt religious organization, effectively bankrupting it, and began to scrutinize other new religions, including the Unification Church.
—E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
Many Pacific Northwest tribes have subsisted on the fish for millennia and have woven them into their religions and languages.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 7 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for religions
Noun
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Japan was stunned into a mainstream awareness of cults in 1995, when Aum Shinrikyo, a vaguely Buddhist meditation sect, released sarin gas in the Tokyo subway, killing more than a dozen and injuring thousands.—
E. Tammy Kim,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
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All the lore about cults and fog worlds is a tangled web of nonsense, the characters are wafer-thin, and the whole thing is really way too long for how little plot is in it.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Colleges and universities nationwide continue to grapple with polemic issues associated with the fair treatment of individuals of differing backgrounds, political persuasions, and sexuality.—
Blake D. Morant,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
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Reactions to this tragedy from friends on social media align completely with their political persuasions.—
Gwen Faulkenberry,
Arkansas Online,
15 Jan. 2026
Noun
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But this year, Christian leaders across sects—including Catholics, Evangelicals, and Baptists—sounded the alarm on AI’s potential impact on family, human relationships, labor, and the church itself.—
Andrew R. Chow,
Time,
23 Dec. 2025
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But Landor’s appeal is backed by dozens of 30 religious and civil rights groups from across the ideological spectrum and representing large and small sects.—
Maureen Groppe,
USA Today,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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More than a dozen speakers asked Texas’ State Board of Education to include the contributions of people from all cultures, faiths and backgrounds as the board revises state standards for social studies.—
Silas Allen,
Dallas Morning News,
29 Jan. 2026
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Several warned that the promotion of this biblical doctrine will ostracize students of other faiths.—
Cate Charron,
IndyStar,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Religions.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/religions. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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