as in ministerial
of, relating to, or characteristic of the clergy
majestically robed in priestly garments
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Recent Examples of priestly
The text records royal decrees including tax relief during poor Nile floods; donations to temples; the creation of a new priestly office; a festival tied to the heliacal rising of Sirius; and a calendar reform introducing a leap day every four years.
—
Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 14 Sep. 2025
In 1997, Greenspan read an article in the Times about a group of geneticists who had tested the Y chromosomes of Jewish men who believed themselves to be part of an ancient priestly tradition called the cohanim.
—Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
The priestly fraternity, named in honor of the anti-modernist Pope St. Pius X, was founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre as a response to liturgical reforms made in the Second Vatican Council (also known as Vatican II).
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 14 Aug. 2025
One thing to consider, however, is that Leviticus is devoted to priestly concerns.
—Jacob F. Love, The Conversation, 5 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for priestly
Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 14 Sep. 2025
In 1997, Greenspan read an article in the Times about a group of geneticists who had tested the Y chromosomes of Jewish men who believed themselves to be part of an ancient priestly tradition called the cohanim.
—Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
The priestly fraternity, named in honor of the anti-modernist Pope St. Pius X, was founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre as a response to liturgical reforms made in the Second Vatican Council (also known as Vatican II).
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 14 Aug. 2025
One thing to consider, however, is that Leviticus is devoted to priestly concerns.
—Jacob F. Love, The Conversation, 5 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for priestly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for priestly
Adjective
-
Binali Yıldırım, a loyal supporter, took on prime ministerial duties.—
Kaya Genç,
The Dial,
3 Feb. 2026
-
The draft ministerial order, which was published just before the holidays, is part of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s commitment to cut red tape in the federal government.—
Ed Silverman,
STAT,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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As Archbishop, Hicks will be in a position to do things differently from the bully pulpit of New York—to carry forward Francis’s pastoral flexibility and identification with people on society’s margins.—
Paul Elie,
New Yorker,
6 Feb. 2026
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Editor Martin Ivanov’s empathetic, dreamlike cutting underscores the symbiosis between humans and storks in a pastoral world before it is disrupted by capitalism.—
Alissa Simon,
Variety,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The Hello Girls performed critical communications work near combat zones, but at the time, their service was dismissed as clerical.—
Loureen Ayyoub,
CBS News,
7 Feb. 2026
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The overpayment was the result of an obvious clerical error; the company sent an invoice for $50,578 and was mistakenly paid more than $5 million.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
6 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Priestly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/priestly. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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