: of or relating to a pope or to the Roman Catholic Church
also
: resembling a pope or that of a pope
Examples of papal in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In 2025, the BAFTA Best Film award went to the Ralph Fiennes papal thriller Conclave.
—
Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
Even the office was sort of papal.
—Merle Ginsberg, HollywoodReporter, 20 Jan. 2026
Mario doubled back for the Alabama cleansing, Nick Saban’s football version of a papal blessing and three years on staff making Mario hirable again.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 17 Jan. 2026
Mets owner Steven Cohen even posted Thursday evening on X, making reference to smoke appearing during papal elections, a sign that Tucker’s signing appeared imminent.
—Benjamin Royer, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for papal
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Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
Even the office was sort of papal.
—Merle Ginsberg, HollywoodReporter, 20 Jan. 2026
Mario doubled back for the Alabama cleansing, Nick Saban’s football version of a papal blessing and three years on staff making Mario hirable again.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 17 Jan. 2026
Mets owner Steven Cohen even posted Thursday evening on X, making reference to smoke appearing during papal elections, a sign that Tucker’s signing appeared imminent.
—Benjamin Royer, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for papal
Cite this Entry
“Papal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/papal. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
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