as in ministerial
of, relating to, or characteristic of the clergy
clerical duties such as providing spiritual counseling and leading Bible study classes
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in priest
a person specially trained and authorized to conduct religious services in a Christian church
some of the state's most prominent clericals have spoken out against the measure
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of clerical
CBS News, 19 Mar. 2026
Larijani is the most senior leader killed in the country since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei late last month, and his death is a significant blow to the ruling clerical regime.
—Alexander Smith, NBC news, 17 Mar. 2026
The clerical government has prioritized the maintenance and export of its Islamic ideology first and foremost, with economics playing second fiddle.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 14 Mar. 2026
But the Navy assigned him to a clerical job at Tinker instead, his mother Alicia Kelsey said.
—Brianna Bailey, The Frontier, 14 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for clerical
Adjective
The clerical body responsible for selecting the new supreme leader announced Mojtaba Khamenei as the new leader on March 8, but he has not been seen in public.
—CBS News, 19 Mar. 2026
Larijani is the most senior leader killed in the country since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei late last month, and his death is a significant blow to the ruling clerical regime.
—Alexander Smith, NBC news, 17 Mar. 2026
The clerical government has prioritized the maintenance and export of its Islamic ideology first and foremost, with economics playing second fiddle.
—Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 14 Mar. 2026
But the Navy assigned him to a clerical job at Tinker instead, his mother Alicia Kelsey said.
—Brianna Bailey, The Frontier, 14 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for clerical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clerical
Adjective
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Shah, who is the RSP’s prime ministerial candidate, won the 2022 Kathmandu mayoral race.—
Binaj Gurubacharya,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Mar. 2026
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Thaksin could be eligible for parole in May, his nephew is the party’s prime ministerial candidate.—
Helen Regan,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The actor will portray Father Fintan, a Native American spiritualist and Catholic priest.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
19 Mar. 2026
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Kilmer had been cast as Catholic priest Father Fintan, but was never able to make it on set because of his health struggles and eventual death in 2025.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Under his ruling, clergy will be allowed in-person pastoral visits to all detainees at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, the site of frequent protests over roughly the 3,000 federal officers who had surged into the state at the height of the crackdown.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
20 Mar. 2026
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Last year, Morris pleaded guilty to five counts of lewd and indecent acts with a child, and Schott’s pastoral lineage became something of a liability.—
Rachel Monroe,
New Yorker,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Gabriel Olivier, an evangelical preacher, was arrested in May 2021 by police in Brandon, Mississippi, for protesting outside of a city amphitheater with a group.—
Julian Mark,
Washington Post,
20 Mar. 2026
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City said preacher had other options The lawyer for the city of Brandon noted that Olivier had other ways of taking on the restrictions, including challenging them as a violation of the state constitution’s free speech protections.—
Maureen Groppe,
USA Today,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
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But a Shiite cleric named Ruhollah Khomeini denounced the unequal pact, saying that an American dog in Iran was treated as more valuable than an Iranian citizen — and his criticism helped propel him to leadership of the opposition and ultimately to the Islamic Revolution.—
Nicholas D. Kristof,
Mercury News,
21 Mar. 2026
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Following the war, this cleric held a series of senior intelligence roles, including director general of intelligence for Qom province, starting in 1991.—
Mehrzad Boroujerdi,
The Conversation,
19 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Clerical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clerical. Accessed 24 Mar. 2026.
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