English edit

Etymology edit

Coined by American sociologist John Lofland in 1966 in his book Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith

Noun edit

doomsday cult (plural doomsday cults)

  1. A cult that believes in apocalypticism and millenarianism.
  2. (by extension) a group that has lost touch with reality.
    • 2022 October 3, Paul Krugman, “How Liz Truss Did So Much Damage in So Few Days”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
      This raised doubts about their competence and, indeed, their connection to reality; it’s never good when economists at major banks declare that a country’s ruling party has become a doomsday cult.

Further reading edit