as in worship
excessive admiration of or devotion to a person
fans of the team are well known for their idolatry of the quarterback
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Recent Examples of idolatry
The third exposes the attacks on empathy as idolatry, because they are based on the worship of power.
—
Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Apr. 2025
Empathy rather than the idolatry of power will actually make our nation strong.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Apr. 2025
Miracle workers, moreover, often become the subjects of so much popular devotion that their authority can begin to approach idolatry or rival that of the Church itself.
—Emily Harnett, Harpers Magazine, 28 Mar. 2025
Then there’s Rumi’s crush on Mrs. Malcolm, which includes several Mary Kay Letourneau jokes and initial idolatry of Vili Fualaau.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for idolatry
Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Apr. 2025
Empathy rather than the idolatry of power will actually make our nation strong.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Apr. 2025
Miracle workers, moreover, often become the subjects of so much popular devotion that their authority can begin to approach idolatry or rival that of the Church itself.
—Emily Harnett, Harpers Magazine, 28 Mar. 2025
Then there’s Rumi’s crush on Mrs. Malcolm, which includes several Mary Kay Letourneau jokes and initial idolatry of Vili Fualaau.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for idolatry
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idolatry
Noun
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This should be the subject of discussions in America’s classrooms, book clubs, houses of worship, legislative chambers, service clubs, podcasts, and social media feeds in 2026.—
Hans Zeiger,
The Orlando Sentinel,
7 July 2025
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Summerfest, incidentally, has had a worship pop through-line this year.—
jsonline.com,
jsonline.com,
4 July 2025
Noun
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Were any parts of her personality driven in direct opposition or in adoration of her two older sisters?—
Brooke Lea Foster,
People.com,
30 June 2025
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There’s not this salivation for love, adoration— From your audiences.—
Danyel Smith,
Rolling Stone,
18 June 2025
Noun
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Depictions of breastfeeding in Western art are usually associated with the baby Jesus and Mary, apart from others in gilded deification.—
Alexandra Bregman,
Forbes.com,
4 July 2025
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So there has always been an attack on the present and a deification of the past on our way to saying that things are getting worse.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
8 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Idolatry.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idolatry. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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