ECCLESIASTIC Synonyms: 92 Similar and Opposite Words

ecclesiastic 1 of 2

adjective

i-ˌklē-zē-ˈa-stik

Definition of ecclesiastic next

as in ecclesiastical

of or relating to a church a council to make final determinations on ecclesiastic matters

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ecclesiastic

2 of 2

a person specially trained and authorized to conduct religious services in a Christian church as the leading ecclesiastic for his church in the state, the bishop must be beyond reproach in everything he does

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Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of ecclesiastic

Adjective

Waugh was based for many years in a grand house in nearby Combe Florey and adapted this local ecclesiastic landmark for fictional purposes. —

Literary Hub, 12 Feb. 2026 Think of it like an ecclesiastic LinkedIn. —

Jack Murtagh, Scientific American, 11 Oct. 2025 Forbidden passion fueled the plot of The Thorn Birds in which the late Richard Chamberlain, played the priest Ralph de Bricassart, a heartthrob in ecclesiastic wear. —

Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 2 Apr. 2025 America has no aristocracy or ecclesiastic master class. —

Brian T. Allen, National Review, 12 Feb. 2022 The Vatican defended the extension by saying the agreement was purely ecclesiastic and pastoral in nature, and not political. —

Nicole Winfield, Star Tribune, 22 Oct. 2020 The motif appeared in ecclesiastic architecture from the 13th to the 15th centuries. —

Jasper Bastian, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Sep. 2020 But Thondup is also sharply critical of the Tibetan political and ecclesiastic elite for their gross mismanagement of their relations with China. —

Anne F. Thurston, Foreign Affairs, 23 Feb. 2016

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 Rather, Ryrie, a prize-winning historian as well as an ecclesiastic, has broadened his scope to take in nearly 750 years of doubt and disbelief in the professedly Christian West. —

Graham Hillard, National Review, 5 Dec. 2019 The old cloister, as the walled domain of the Chapter of Canons was called, housed unusual and not invariably pious persons, as well as the worldly ecclesiastics themselves. —

Bruce Dale, National Geographic, 17 Apr. 2019 This was the Fairy Tree L’Arbre des Dames or Le Beau Mai tree, whereupon extra-ecclesiastic celebrations were staged. —

C.d. Wright, Harper's magazine, 10 Jan. 2019 There are nearly 70 community leaders — from entrepreneurs to ecclesiastics (and a rabbi thrown in for good measure) — who have joined to address the problems that have held Louisville back for decades. —

Joseph Gerth, The Courier-Journal, 2 Feb. 2018 The end result was a new brand of ecclesiastics and lay Catholics who felt comfortable detaching themselves from Franco’s regime, or even fighting it head-on in a variety of forums, including student movements, intellectual circles, unions, political parties, and the media. —

Victor Pérez-Díaz, Foreign Affairs, 6 Dec. 2013

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ecclesiastic

Adjective

Walsh’s ruling gave the OCA, which is the largest of three Russian Orthodox ecclesiastical bodies in the United States, authority to govern the parish and the judge ordered the parish’s former leaders to vacate the property by June 2025.

— Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 9 Apr. 2026
These final days of Lent, constituting the most solemn season of the ecclesiastical year, will commemorate the passion and death of Christ.

— From staff reports, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 2 Apr. 2026