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
Iran will never bow to foreign pressure over its nuclear program, senior cleric Ahmad Khatami said Friday, warning that the country’s uranium enrichment is a nonnegotiable symbol of national sovereignty.
—
Amir Daftari, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025
That exquisitely rare skill — the ability to arrange a handful of ordinary notes in a way that makes time stop and pulses quicken — unites long-anonymous troubadours, symphonists, Broadway entertainers, earnest singer-songwriters, griots, and ancient clerics.
—Justin Davidson, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2025
Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Asheikh was the third cleric to hold the position since the country’s founding, serving three kings during an era of major cultural and political transformation in Saudi Arabia and the region.
—Mohammed Sergie, semafor.com, 24 Sep. 2025
The economy is the top challenge for Iran’s ruling clerics, who fear a revival of protests that have erupted since 2017 by lower and middle-income communities angry at growing poverty because of sanctions, mismanagement and state corruption.
—Parisa Hafezi, USA Today, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cleric
Amir Daftari, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025
That exquisitely rare skill — the ability to arrange a handful of ordinary notes in a way that makes time stop and pulses quicken — unites long-anonymous troubadours, symphonists, Broadway entertainers, earnest singer-songwriters, griots, and ancient clerics.
—Justin Davidson, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2025
Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Asheikh was the third cleric to hold the position since the country’s founding, serving three kings during an era of major cultural and political transformation in Saudi Arabia and the region.
—Mohammed Sergie, semafor.com, 24 Sep. 2025
The economy is the top challenge for Iran’s ruling clerics, who fear a revival of protests that have erupted since 2017 by lower and middle-income communities angry at growing poverty because of sanctions, mismanagement and state corruption.
—Parisa Hafezi, USA Today, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cleric
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cleric
Noun
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After the service, the King is expected to attend a reception at the Pontifical Beda College, a seminary which trains priests from across the Commonwealth, while Camilla will meet six Catholic Sisters from the International Union of Superiors General.—
Simon Perry,
PEOPLE,
17 Oct. 2025
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Delbarton publicly acknowledged in 2018 that at least 30 men had come forward with allegations that, over three decades, 13 past or current priests and monks at the school had victimized them — in addition to a lay faculty member who is now retired.—
Corky Siemaszko,
NBC news,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Miner preachers and independent churches were central to the organization of miners in eastern Kentucky in the 1930s, too, during another period of violence between mine operators and miners over conditions, wages and unionization.—
The Conversation,
The Conversation,
7 Oct. 2025
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Carolyn Smith, the late preacher’s daughter, said her father — like Pendleton a Knoxville College graduate — was instrumental in recruiting Pendleton and other Black educators to teach in San Diego.—
Jemma Stephenson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cleric.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cleric. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
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