From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfanaticfa‧nat‧ic /fəˈnætɪk/ noun [countable] 1 EXTREMEsomeone who has extreme political or religious ideas and is often dangerous SYN extremist fanatics who represent a real danger to democracy a religious fanatic2 LIKE somebody OR somethingsomeone who likes a particular thing or activity very much SYN enthusiast a health food fanatic a fitness fanatic —fanatical adjective a fanatical sportsman He was fanatical about tidiness. —fanatically /-kli/ adverb
Examples from the Corpus
fanatic• Her religious fanaticism has alienated most of her old friends.• But like most people who use these things, I tend not to be a fanatic about the instructions.• Ron's an exercise fanatic.• Pro-Fascist fanatics have continued their attacks on foreigners.• For fishing fanatics, the rivers estuaries and coast offer endless opportunities.• These highly mobile skirmishers can be used to draw Goblin fanatics out of their units prior to a charge by more heavily armed troops.• Gandhi was killed by a religious fanatic.• His parents were religious fanatics who didn't allow him to play with other children.religious fanatic• In December 1980, there was a serious outbreak of rioting by religious fanatics in the northern city of Kano.• Pathans are very very orthodox and sometimes religious fanatics.• Born dirt-poor in a southern town to religious fanatics, he was raised on the Bible and the taunts of others.Origin fanatic (1500-1600) Latin fanaticus “made wild or mad by the gods”, from fanum “religious building” 