Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cargo cult

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.84 in modern English

Syllables: car-go cult
IPA

14

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any of several religious movements among the people of Melanesia that anticipate the arrival of material cargo or cultural restoration, typically through the ritual imitation of the activities of colonial or technological cultures.

noun

Any of several philosophies, practices or pseudosciences that are not rooted in experiment, often characterized by an unreflected and ritualistic approach.

Example Sentences

"cargo cult science"
"cargo cult software engineering"
"“People should slow down and understand what they’re trying to optimize for before just following Jack,” Mr. Woo said. “You don’t want to be in a cargo cult type thing.”"

Etymology

From cargo (“Western material goods”) + cult. First used in print by N. M. Bird in an article in 1945.

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Religion.

Inflected Forms

cargo cults (plural)

Phrases

cargo culting cargo cult science

Frequently Paired Words

technomagic

Questions

What does cargo cult mean?: Any of several religious movements among the people of Melanesia that anticipate the arrival of material cargo or cultural restoration, typically through the ritual imitation of the activities of colonial or technological cultures.
Where does cargo cult come from?: From cargo (“Western material goods”) + cult. First used in print by N. M. Bird in an article in 1945.

How to pronounce cargo cult

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