as in priests
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ecclesiastics
Noun
-
His remarks come after reports that priests and pastoral workers have been unable to bring communion to those detained.—
Christopher Lamb,
CNN Money,
8 Nov. 2025 -
Often affiliated with the state and temples, these people were typically royalty, high-level bureaucrats and priests.—
Serdar Yalçin,
The Conversation,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Smith belongs to a generation of preachers who first came to prominence in the aughts.—
Sam Kestenbaum,
Vulture,
2 Jan. 2026
-
The Australian Federal Police are also looking into alleged hate preachers as part of their investigation and will execute further search warrants in the coming days, police commissioner Krissy Barrett said on Thursday.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
18 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans calling for the downfall of the ruling clerics and demanding the leadership step aside.—
Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
30 Dec. 2025
-
While the underlying reasons for the protests are economic, video geolocated by NBC News that circulated online Sunday showed crowds chanting against the country’s ruling clerics.—
Babak Dehghanpisheh,
NBC news,
30 Dec. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Ecclesiastics.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ecclesiastics. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share