CLERIC Synonyms: 58 Similar and Opposite Words

cleric

noun

ˈkler-ik

as in priest

a person specially trained and authorized to conduct religious services in a Christian church clerics were sharply divided on the issue of whether the war was morally justified

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Recent Examples of cleric Leo spoke during a gathering of top bishops of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, an Eastern Rite Catholic church whose clerics are in Rome to elect a new patriarch. —

Brian Dakss, CBS News, 11 Apr. 2026 Leo spoke during a gathering of top bishops of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, an Eastern Rite Catholic church whose clerics are in Rome to elect a new patriarch. —

Nbc News, NBC news, 10 Apr. 2026 Weeks later, Ruhollah Khomeini, an Islamist cleric, emerged as the new theocratic state’s supreme leader and fueled extreme anti-American sentiment. —

Jonathan Lemire, The Atlantic, 9 Apr. 2026 The relative success of the war elevated the Revolutionary Guard from a small, street-level militia, initially created to protect Khomeini and the other clerics at the forefront of the Islamic Revolution, into the symbolic defenders of the theocracy. —

Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 7 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for cleric

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cleric

Noun

Once the nuns moved to their own convent, Viatorian priests, some who also taught at Marian, moved in and lived there until Blanche died in 1983, according to materials from the historical society.

— Paul Eisenberg, Chicago Tribune, 6 May 2026
Al-Amil said the pope spoke in French with the priests during the video call that lasted about a minute and urged them to stay in their hometowns.

— ABC News, ABC News, 6 May 2026