| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | school of thought |
| Synonyms: | camp, church, communion, connection, creed, crew, cult, denomination, division, faction, faith, following, group, order, party, persuasion, religion, school, splinter group, team, wing |
| Notes: | a sect is a rule defined by some doctrinal difference, a cult by allegiance to an idea or commanding personality |
| Main Entry: | clan |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | family, clique |
| Synonyms: | association, band, bunch, club, coterie, crew, crowd, crush, faction, folks, gang, group, house, insiders, kinfolks, mob, moiety, organization, outfit, race, ring, sect, set, society, sodality, stock, tribe |
| Main Entry: | class |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | kind, sort, category |
| Synonyms: | branch, brand, breed, cast, caste, character, classification, collection, color, degree, denomination, department, description, designation, distinction, division, domain, estate, family, feather, frame, genre, genus, grade, grain, grouping, hierarchy, humor, ilk, kidney, league, make, mold, name, nature, order, origin, property, province, quality, range, rank, rate, school, sect, section, selection, set, source, species, sphere, standing, status, stripe, style, suit, temperament, value, variety |
| Main Entry: | class |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | societal group, background |
| Synonyms: | ancestry, birth, bourgeoisie, breed, caliber, caste, circle, clan, clique, club, company, condition, connection, coterie, cultural level, degree, derivation, descent, estate, extraction, family, genealogy, grade, hierarchy, influence, intelligentsia, league, lineage, moiety, nobility, origin, pecking order, pedigree, pigeonhole, place, position, prestige, quality, sect, social rank, source, sphere, standing, state, station, status, stock, strain, stratum, the right stuff, tier, title |
| Main Entry: | contingent |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | group of followers |
| Synonyms: | batch, body, bunch, deputation, detachment, disciples, mission, quota, sect, section, set |
| Main Entry: | crew |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | group working together |
| Synonyms: | aggregation, assemblage, band, bevy, bunch, cluster, collection, company, complement, congregation, corps, covey, crowd, faction, gang, hands, herd, horde, lot, mob, organization, pack, party, posse, retinue, sailors, sect, set, squad, swarm, team, troop, troupe, workers, working party |
| Main Entry: | cult |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | group sharing belief |
| Synonyms: | band, body, church, clan, clique, creed, denomination, faction, faith, following, party, persuasion, religion, school, sect |
| Notes: | a sect is a rule defined by some doctrinal difference, a cult by allegiance to an idea or commanding personality |
| Main Entry: | denomination |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | religious belief |
| Synonyms: | church, communion, connection, creed, cult, faith, group, persuasion, religion, school, sect |
| Main Entry: | faction |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | group sharing a belief or cause |
| Synonyms: | band, bloc, bunch, cabal, camp, caucus, cell, circle, clan, clique, club, coalition, combination, combine, combo, concern, conclave, confederacy, conspiracy, contingent, coterie, crew, crowd, design, division, entente, gang, guild, insiders, intrigue, junta, knot, lobby, machine, minority, mob, network, offshoot, outfit, partnership, party, pressure group, ring, schism, sect, section, sector, set, side, splinter group, team, unit, wing |
| Notes: | a faction is a group of people forming a cohesive, usually contentious, minority from within a larger group; a fraction is a small part or item of something forming a piece of a whole |
| Antonyms: | entirety, total, whole |