excessive belief in supernatural or irrational forces in human affairs
It is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as superstitions — T H Huxley
a widely held belief or widely practised act that has no rational basis, esp one associated with supposedly supernatural influences and thought to bring good or bad luck
superstitious adj
superstitiously adv
superstitiousness noun
[Middle English supersticion via French from Latin superstition-, superstitio, from super- + stare to stand]