as in temporal
not involving religion or religious matters
that's an issue for the secular authorities, not the church
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Recent Examples of secular
Literary Hub, 11 Feb. 2026
Deutsch established six secular Hebrew-English charter schools in Florida.
—Nuria Martinez-Keel, Oklahoma Voice, 10 Feb. 2026
Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2023
His selection of works, for example, mixed the sacred with the secular, interspersing chorale preludes (which use Lutheran hymns as their point of departure) with the six trio sonatas for organ.
—Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for secular
Adjective
The reader may wonder how much of this book is true, in the most secular and least inspired sense of the word.
—Literary Hub, 11 Feb. 2026
Deutsch established six secular Hebrew-English charter schools in Florida.
—Nuria Martinez-Keel, Oklahoma Voice, 10 Feb. 2026
Noun
There was a change of heart among the secular nationalists during the second intifada—which started in 2000 and ended in 2005—in which seculars also joined forces.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2023
His selection of works, for example, mixed the sacred with the secular, interspersing chorale preludes (which use Lutheran hymns as their point of departure) with the six trio sonatas for organ.
—Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for secular
Recent Examples of Synonyms for secular
Adjective
-
For the launch colorway, a vivid graphic may initially bring to mind heat maps with its application of blue, green, yellow and red — but the choice was actually made to invoke a temporal fold, a theoretical concept of bending spacetime to move faster than the speed of light.—
Ian Servantes,
Footwear News,
13 Feb. 2026
-
This temporal displacement has consequences.—
Michael Paarlberg,
The Conversation,
12 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The pipeline will provide up to 185,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas, an industry term that Fore admitted was difficult to explain for laymen.—
Joseph States,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Jan. 2026
-
From my layman’s perspective, this seemed promising, plus the attorney seemed invested.—
Jasper Craven,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Groups including Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation are representing the plaintiffs, a group of both religious and nonreligious families who want to block the laws.—
BrieAnna J. Frank,
USA Today,
20 Jan. 2026
-
Kwanzaa is a nonreligious, secular holiday that is mainly celebrated in North America and the Caribbean.—
Haadiza Ogwude,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
2 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
This is consistent with real-world statistics, where people of color and women who experience cardiac arrest outside the hospital are less likely to receive CPR from a layperson.—
Beth Hoffman,
The Conversation,
12 Jan. 2026
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Both Boyd and Sereno say that some of the terminology in their field could confuse a layperson.—
Bill Chappell,
NPR,
1 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Secular.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/secular. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
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