Idolatry
(pronounced iy-dol-uh-tree) noun and Idolatrous
(pronounced iy-dol-uh-trus) adjective
Definition
IDOLATRY = 1. worship of idols. 2. blind devotion; excessive reverence or admiration of a person or thing.
Main Example
Why did the nation's top banks keep lending money to Enron and thus become complicit in the energy giant's fraud? Partly because of the hefty fees involved, but those financial institutions also participated out of idolatry! Because of Enron's constantly galloping (reported) earnings and stock price, Wall Street held the company's executives in awe and regarded them as people who "could do no wrong," says Bethany McLean, coauthor of "The Smartest Guys in the Room...."
Workplace Examples
The reason why our industry is stricken with low profit margins is the consumers' fanatical attachment to the latest and greatest . . . their idolatry of the most advanced products. It forces manufacturers, like us, to keep making these ridiculously high investments in R&D.
Steve seems to have struck a healthy balance between work and family, unlike most of us who log 70- to 80- hour workweeks, thanks to our idolatrous attachment to money and the career ladder.
Other Examples
the founder of a hugely successful company helping cultivate a following that borders on idolatry; while Princess Diana was alive, the public's idolatry of her exceeding that for even the most admired film stars
George Soros, the preeminent financier and one of America's top three living philanthropists, criticizing market fundamentalists for being idolatrous in their pursuit of "unchecked capitalism" and pointing out that some of the world's social ills can only be cured by "a political process"
in a tragedy that symbolizes the idolatrous worship of gourmet food and famous chefs in France, noted chef Bernard Loiseau committing suicide after the highly regarded Michelin Restaurant Guide downgraded him from three stars to two
much of the ill will between the followers of different religions arising out of people's idolatrousness, with adherents of each religion often regarding their god as the only true god and viewing the other faiths as unworthy
