- Today's Word
Idolatrous
eye-DOL-uh-truhs
Definition
- (adjective) Excessively devoted to or reverent toward someone or something, often to the point of worship.
Example
The fans’ idolatrous admiration for the pop star bordered on obsession.
Fun Fact
While “idolatrous” has religious origins, it is often used today to describe extreme fandom or devotion in non-religious contexts, from celebrity culture to technology. It’s a fascinating way to highlight humanity’s capacity for passionate allegiance.
(adjective) Characterized by a narrow-minded focus on one’s own group or environment; closed off to outside ideas or perspectives.
The company’s insular culture — promoting only from within, dismissing outside perspectives, and treating change as a threat — had quietly calcified into the biggest obstacle to its own growth.
Insular derives from the Latin insularis, meaning “of an island,” from insula — “island.” It entered English in the 17th century with its literal meaning of relating to islands before quickly acquiring its figurative sense of the psychological condition associated with island life — a worldview bounded by water on all sides, self-contained, and instinctively resistant to what lies beyond the shoreline. The British, as an island nation, have had a complicated relationship with the word ever since.