variants
or laic
as in irreligious
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for laical
Adjective
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Stewart’s switch from his usual snark to imitate Colbert’s buffoonery proved how spiteful and irreligious political humor has become since the left’s worship of Barack Obama and subsequent persecution of President Trump.—
Armond White,
National Review,
25 July 2025 -
Silverstein had a much different experience growing up, given the fact that his parents were both Baalei teshuva (irreligious Jews who become more observant later in life).—
Josh Weiss,
Forbes.com,
11 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Otherwise disparate segments of Iranian society, such as the conservative Bazaari merchants hitherto largely loyal to the clerics and more liberal and secular Iranian youth, shared this overarching goal.—
Paul Iddon,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
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Its first secular use, as a term for major literary texts, dates to the eighteenth century, and that sense became gradually more pervasive as authority was divorced from scripture.—
Colton Valentine,
New Yorker,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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To a lay person, the pixel-ly blobs in shades of orange may not look too impressive.—
Keith Matheny,
Freep.com,
11 Dec. 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
Adjective
-
Over the course of that months-long reporting, a picture has emerged of the radical characters involved with the property, including a notorious neo-Nazi family and a pagan mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
15 Dec. 2025
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The History of Hanukkah More than 2,000 years ago, Antiochus, a cruel ruler of the Greek Kingdom, imposed pagan beliefs on the Jewish people.—
Holly Rizzuto Palker,
Parents,
14 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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His stories, particularly the later ones, center around the idea that the Universe is a godless cosmos that is entirely indifferent to humanity.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
14 Oct. 2025
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Predictably, the hubbub surrounding the photo was eventually framed as a war between uptight virgins and godless heathens, with a quieter contingent astounded only by the fact that this kind of marketing could still be so effective.—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Elevation Church, the evangelical, nondenominational megachurch led by Pastor Steven Furtick, recently announced its plan to start its own college program in 2026.—
Briah Lumpkins,
Charlotte Observer,
18 Dec. 2025
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Morris, who founded the nondenominational Gateway Church in Texas, pleaded guilty in October to five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with all but six months suspended.—
Mike Hixenbaugh,
NBC news,
17 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Most of the scholars Wiese discusses were rabbis, whether more traditional ones or proponents of radical reform, and this reflects the degree to which secular Jewish Studies, housed in nonsectarian universities, took longer to develop.—
Josh Lambert,
JSTOR Daily,
19 Sep. 2025
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The Dalai Lama’s nonsectarian vision and unifying presence has helped Tibetans in exile avoid the fate of many diaspora communities that fall apart from internal strife, tribal loyalties, and turf wars.—
Tenzin Dorjee,
Foreign Affairs,
1 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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In this example the information is temporal, slight, and of little broad use.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
23 Jan. 2026
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It’s shaped around facial proportions, temporal corners, and the way hair naturally grows.—
Wyles Daniel,
USA Today,
20 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Laical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laical. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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