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Pertaining to, or indicating, fanaticism; extravagant in opinions; ultra; unreasonable; excessively enthusiastic, especially on religious subjects; as, fanatic zeal; fanatic notions. But Faith, fanatic Faith, once wedded fast To some dear falsehood, hugs it to the last. T. Moore.

Characteristic of, or relating to, fanaticism; fanatic. - Fa*nat"ic*al*ly, adv. -- Fa*nat"ic*al*ness, n.

Excessive enthusiasm, unreasoning zeal, or wild and extravagant notions, on any subject, especially religion; religious frenzy.

To cause to become a fanatic.

A place of training; a school. "Academies of fanaticism." Hume.

with an affectation of religion, philanthropy, etc.; to practice hypocrisy; as, a canting fanatic. The rankest rogue that ever canted. Beau. & Fl.

sembling, a conventicle. [Obs.] Conventicling schools . . . set up and taught secretly by fanatics. South.

One who has convulsions; esp., one of a body of fanatics in France, early in the eighteenth century, who went into convulsions under the influence of religious emotion; as, the Convulsionists of St. Médard.

to hang upon importunately; to court the favor of; to beset. The Presbyterians, and other fanatics that dangle after them, are well inclined to pull down the present establishment. Swift.

himself divinely inspired, or possessed of some special revelation; a religious madman; a fanatic. (b) One whose mind is wholly possessed and heated by what engages it; one who is influenced by a peculiar; fervor of mind; an ardent and imaginative person. Enthusiasts soon understand each other. W. Irving.…

language, action, etc.; as, an explosion of wrath. A formidable explosion of high-church fanaticism. Macaulay.

One of afanatical Antinomian sect originating in Holland, and existing in England about 1580, called the Family of Love, who held that religion consists wholly in love.

Fanaticism. [R.] Gibbon.

Consisting of one of five equal divisions of a thing. Fifth monarchy men (Hist.), a fanatical sect in England, of the time of the commonwealth, who maintained that there would be a fifth universal monarchy, during which Christ would reign on earth a thousand years. -- Fifth wheel, a horizontal wheel or segment above t…

One of a fanatical sect which flourished in Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries, and maintained that flagellation was of equal virtue with baptism and the sacrament; -- called also disciplinant.

One who offers in sacrifice; specifically, one of a sect of Russian fanatics who practice self-mutilatio and sacrifice.

A morbid suspension of good sense or judgment, as through fanaticism. Dr. H. More.

Belief in the coming of the Mahdi; fanatical devotion to the cause of the Mahdi or a pretender to that title. -- Mah"dist (#), n.

any opinion, system, or party. They were possessed of a spirit of proselytism in the most fanatical degree. Burke.

Extreme, unreasonable, or fanatical in opinion; excessively zealous; as, a rabid socialist.