Idolatric

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Pertaining to or characteristic of the excessive veneration or worship of images or idols; indicating a strong devotion or unquestioning admiration towards a person or thing; relating to the practice of idolatry in religious or secular contexts
2. Associated with or describing behavior involving excessive or blind adoration of physical representations or symbolic figures; expressing a passionate or fanatical reverence towards objects or individuals; connected to the concept of worshiping idols or elevated devotion
3. Relating to or denoting the act of revering images or figures with undue respect; showing zealous or extreme admiration often bordering on worship; connected to the cultural or religious practice of idol worship or excessive admiration for someone or something

Etymology: "Idolatric" is simply "idolater" with the adjective-forming ending "-ic" attached, so its story is really the story of the word it grows from. "Idolater" combines the Greek "eidolon" (image, phantom) with a suffix meaning worshipper, and it names someone who worships a physical image or representation as if it were divine. Adding "-ic" turns that noun into a description of whatever belongs to such worship or such worshippers. The result is a word that sounds more like a theologian's tool than a everyday term, which fits its job: it describes practices and attitudes, not people directly. Used in the sense the definition gives, it describes a devotion that has settled on an object rather than on the god the object stands for.

Synonyms: idolatrous, idolizing, worshipful, devotional, reverent

Antonyms: atheistic, disbelieving, irreverent, skeptical, doubtful