cargo cult Hear it!

cargo cult definition

cargo cult

a quasi-religious cult among some South Sea islanders, based on a belief that the spirits of their ancestors will return with supplies of modern goods, thus inaugurating a golden age of prosperity and, sometimes, liberation from colonial domination

Etymology: < cargo, as on ships

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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