rit·u·al·ism / ˈrichoōəˌlizəm/ • n. the regular observance or practice of ritual, esp. when excessive or without regard to its function.DERIVATIVES: rit·u·al·ist n.rit·u·al·is·tic / ˌrichoōəˈlistik/ adj.rit·u·al·is·ti·cal·ly adv.

Ritualism. A movement in the Church of England in the late 19th cent., to adopt the ritual and Gothic ornament of the Roman Catholic Church. Attempts to repress it in the secular or church courts (on the basis of the Ornaments rubric) from 1869, and through an act of Parliament (1874), were not ultimately successful.