CLERGYWOMAN Synonyms: 58 Similar and Opposite Words

clergywoman

noun

Definition of clergywoman

as in clergyman

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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 clergywoman Patterson, an ordained clergywoman with a background in healthcare, joined the Legislature via a special election in 2020. — oregonlive, 8 Nov. 2022

Recent Examples of Synonyms for clergywoman

Noun

Some years ago, the State met me in behalf of the Church, and commanded me to pay a certain sum toward the support of a clergyman whose preaching my father attended, but never I myself.

— René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Oct. 2026
But the heart of this production is the dramatic soprano Christine Goerke, who plays a deceased clergyman known as the Reverend.

— Nathan Heller, New Yorker, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of clergyman

Noun

Or would Azriel instead mate with Gwyn, the traumatized priestess turned badass Valkyrie warrior whose early experience of violence echoes Azriel’s own?

— Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2026
The oracle was a priestess who entered a trance state to convey answers from Apollo, the Greek god of prophecy.

— Ambuj Tewari, The Conversation, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of priestess

Noun

Then in 1964, Parks became a deaconess in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

— Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
In her younger years, Webb was an avid churchgoer in Baltimore, Maryland alongside her father, a deacon, and her mother, a deaconess, who met in a church choir.

— Robyn Mowatt, ELLE, 22 June 2023

Definition of deaconess

Noun

On the front lines during natural disasters Janinna Sesa, former director of Caritas Chiclayo, worked with the bishop for eight years, including during the pandemic, the flooding caused by the coastal El Niño in 2017, and Cyclone Yaku in 2023.

— Claudia Rebaza, CNN Money, 11 Nov. 2026
His last stop is Peru, where Leo holds citizenship and spent two decades as a missionary and bishop.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Nov. 2026

Definition of bishop

Noun

Just before the Devil drawing is a churchman’s confession of a lengthy list of sins.

— Laura Payne, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Oct. 2026
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

Definition of churchman

Noun

Seven top clergypersons of the Armenian Apostolic Church, including the church head, Karekin II, have been charged with crimes related to the church’s refusal to restore a mutinous bishop.

— Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor, 15 Sep. 2026
What makes the family tradition sustainable in central Massachusetts, where the Vallelis now live, is a pastor-sharing arrangement between two congregations that couldn’t afford a full-time clergyperson on their own.

— G. Jeffrey MacDonald, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Apr. 2020

Definition of clergyperson

Noun

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis — then Jorge Mario Bergoglio — mobilized the church during Argentina’s 2001 economic crisis, sending priests into the slums and opening soup kitchens, schools and drug rehab centers as state services receded.

— ABC News, ABC News, 15 Nov. 2026
The former Robert Prevost spent two decades as a missionary priest and bishop in Peru and credits the place with teaching him how to be a shepherd.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 13 Nov. 2026

Definition of priest

Noun

After Mass, Leo surprised the crowds with a brief appearance on the balcony of the archbishop’s residence in downtown Córdoba, the same balcony from which John Paul II greeted Córdoba in 1987.

— Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2026
The Argentine Jesuit, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, never returned home during his 12-year pontificate, confounding friends and foes alike.

— Nicole Winfield, Chicago Tribune, 8 Nov. 2026

Definition of archbishop

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“Clergywoman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clergywoman. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of clergywoman

noun

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