SINCE 1828

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

churchy

play

adjective \ ˈchər-chē \

Definition of churchy

1 :marked by strict conformity or zealous adherence to the forms or beliefs of a church

2 :of or suggestive of a church or church services

Recent Examples of churchy from the Web

Blue Note players like Horace Silver and Art Blakey reacted with a new bluesy, churchy form with a driving backbeat called Hard bop.

— Longreads, "The Brief Career and Self-Imposed Exile of Jutta Hipp, Jazz Pianist," 4 Aug. 2017
Chance the Rapper led his congregation of 18,3000 to church without being too churchy; his random cursing took care of that.''

— chuck yarborough, cleveland.com, "Chance the Rapper, Brian McKnight, Norah Jones: Also Playing," 17 May 2017
Mr. Cohen’s sepulchral, deadpan intonation is set within angelic voices, Gypsy violins and often an organ that can be churchy or bluesy; each verse could be last words.

— jon pareles, jon caramanica and nate chinen, New York Times, "The Best in Culture 2016," 7 Dec. 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'churchy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of churchy

1843

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up churchy? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

WORD OF THE DAY

anathematize

play

to curse or denounce

BROWSE DICTIONARY

churchwoman

church work

churchy

churchyard

churchyard beetle

Test Your Vocabulary

Merriam-Webster's New Words Quiz—Fall 2017 Edition!

Which of the following is a new sense of the word bunny?

How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?

Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!

TAKE THE QUIZ

Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Words at Play

alt-59c94ad823f29

'Meat Sweats': The Competitive Eater's Worst Nightmare

They're real, but is meat the cause?

alt-59c919f342079

'Diffuse' vs. 'Defuse'

Let us defuse the situation.

alt-59c52d6ee2f72

Breathing Life Into 'Inspire'

The word's origins are quite literal

alt-59c4207ecf106

Let's Talk 'Tea'

Spill it, sip it: just make it hot.

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066

Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless

Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals

Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

young-plant-shoots

Merriam-Webster's New Words Quiz—Fall 2017 Edition!

You're going to have to memorize the dictionary again.

Take the quiz

stylized-drawing-of-woman-pole-vaulting-across-gap-to-get-trophy

Challenging Vocabulary Quiz Returns!

No tricks, just difficult words.

Take the quiz

How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?

How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?

Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!

Take the quiz

Word Winder's CrossWinder

Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game