CHURCHMAN Synonyms: 58 Similar and Opposite Words

churchman

noun

Definition of churchman

as in clergyman

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of churchman Meanwhile, churchmen claimed the authority to restrain violence, encouraged just wars and threatened violent behaviors with spiritual sanctions. — Joëlle Rollo-Koster, Fortune, 15 Apr. 2026 Not all birth rituals depended on the intercession of a saint or the authority of a churchman. — Literary Hub, 18 Mar. 2026 The good news about the release of Álvarez and the other 18 Catholic churchmen is tempered by the imposition of their exile and by the knowledge that other advocates for freedom in Nicaragua remain behind bars. — David Harsanyi, National Review, 25 Jan. 2024 They were abetted by the Latin churchmen who forged the Donation of Constantine as the pope’s license to appoint a king of the Romans. — Dominic Green, WSJ, 22 Dec. 2023 See All Example Sentences for churchman

Recent Examples of Synonyms for churchman

Noun

Without the charismatic clergyman, what kind of unruly Black-underclass anger would take the stage?

— Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
When Yakovlev mentioned the clergyman who attended the death-bed, Adelaide expressed surprise that John had asked to see a pastor.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of clergyman

Noun

In an email sent to priests of the archdiocese on Saturday afternoon and shared with NPR, Archbishop Ronald Hicks also said the deal had not yet been signed but that an agreement had been reached with plaintiffs and their attorneys.

— Chandelis Duster, NPR, 24 Oct. 2026
The Georgetown initiative focuses on descendants of slaves sold by Georgetown's Jesuit priests to slaveholders in Louisiana.

— ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of priest

Noun

The preacher was arrested in 2023 after police received a tip-off, and weeks later authorities began uncovering bodies in shallow graves in the Shakahola Forest near the coast in southeastern Kenya.

— Jefferson Kahinju Reuters, Arkansas Online, 20 Oct. 2026
In the background of a gut-wrenching new album from Teller Bank$, there’s a preacher who sees himself in the biblical parable of Noah’s ark.

— Olivier Lafontant, Pitchfork, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of preacher

Noun

Attendance was mandatory, but a cleric with a loudspeaker tried to give the event a festive air.

— Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2026
The lawmaker, Hamid Rasaei, a cleric who has regularly lashed out at Iran’s negotiating team, is a member of the ultra-hard-line political party Paydari.

— Farnaz Fassihi, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of cleric

Noun

Of all the precious goods accumulated by the rulers and ecclesiastics of late medieval Ethiopia, the most charged of all were books.

— Peter Brown, The New York Review of Books, 24 Sep. 2020
This shop for ecclesiastics has an exquisite selection of high-quality pieces.

— Zoe Ruffner, Vogue, 19 Dec. 2019

Definition of ecclesiastic

Noun

The Mexican fan palm, supposedly brought here by the mission-building padres to supply Palm Sunday foliage, can grow taller, maybe 10 stories, and skinnier, and can dip and sway camera-readily in the wind.

— Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2025
The group has since evolved to the comité de padres and grown to roughly 30 mothers.

— Mathew Miranda, Sacramento Bee, 18 Apr. 2024

Definition of padre

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churchly

churchman

churchmen

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“Churchman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/churchman. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of churchman

noun

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