cults

/kʌlts/

IPA: /K AH1 L T S/

noun
  1. 1

    A group or sect of people with a deviant religious, philosophical or cultural identity, often existing on the margins of society or exploitative towards its members.

    Oh my gosh, I'm in a repressive cult! How can I leave it?

  2. 2

    Devotion to a saint.

  3. 3

    The veneration and religious rites given to a deity, esp. in a historical polytheistic context.

  4. 4

    A religion that evolved out of another religion but has become a different religion through developing a radically different theology.

  5. 5

    A group of people having an obsession with or intense admiration for a particular activity, idea, person or thing.

Source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cult, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cults