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
Perhaps the most sensitive matter is Iran, a nation of nasty clerics and old-time belligerents that declared war on America and Israel 47 years ago.
—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2026
Analysts and clerics are keen to stress the overall importance of this visit to the continent.
—Paul Tilsley, FOXNews.com, 12 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.
—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
See All Example Sentences for cleric
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2026
Analysts and clerics are keen to stress the overall importance of this visit to the continent.
—Paul Tilsley, FOXNews.com, 12 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.
—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
See All Example Sentences for cleric
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cleric
Noun
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Paradise Metal—the debut of Father Dionysios Tabakis, a 53-year-old priest in Nafplio, a small Greek city off the Argolic Gulf—is actually a series of epiphanies, an ostensible curiosity that functions as an object lesson about expectations.—
Grayson Haver Currin,
Pitchfork,
14 May 2026
-
At one point, his condition seemed so dire that a priest was called to provide Giuliani his last rites, a Catholic sacrament often administered to the dying.—
Jessica Schladebeck,
New York Daily News,
14 May 2026
Noun
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The girls follow his trail of tears to Divine (Erika Alexander), a charismatic preacher still in the carnal thrall of her time with their father.—
Katie Walsh,
Boston Herald,
15 May 2026
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Far from being a fringe belief system, masculinism has become the single most important force uniting the American right, bringing together an unlikely constellation of pastors, posters, senators, preachers, influencers, podcasters, and fanboys.—
Helen Lewis,
The Atlantic,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cleric.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cleric. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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