CLERGYMAN Synonyms: 58 Similar and Opposite Words

clergyman

noun

Definition of clergyman

as in preacher

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of clergyman In 1986, Bishop Desmond Tutu was installed as the first Black clergyman to lead the Anglican Church in southern Africa. — ABC News, 25 Aug. 2026 Such details include McCartney’s bare feet and opposite stride and the other members’ attire (Lennon’s white supposedly represents a clergyman, Starr’s black a mourner, and Harrison’s denim a gravedigger). — Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 July 2026 Robin, our hero, is the son of a country clergyman. — John Swansburg, The Atlantic, 15 June 2026 The trio of vicars starts with James Norton as Sidney Chambers, the doe-eyed clergyman with a taste for cool jazz and clever women. — Pat Saperstein, Variety, 14 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for clergyman

Recent Examples of Synonyms for clergyman

Noun

And yet another member, Cody Smith, said his grandfather was preacher of the church for more than 40 years.

— Laura Bauer, Kansas City Star, 14 Oct. 2026
This brings to mind a song from yesteryear about the preacher and the bear.

— Alfred H. Moses, Baltimore Sun, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of preacher

Noun

Meanwhile, churchmen claimed the authority to restrain violence, encouraged just wars and threatened violent behaviors with spiritual sanctions.

— Joëlle Rollo-Koster, Fortune, 15 Apr. 2026
Not all birth rituals depended on the intercession of a saint or the authority of a churchman.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Mar. 2026

Definition of churchman

Noun

For a second day Leo celebrated Mass with other priests in a special chapel set up near his room on the 10th floor of the hospital, spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

— Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
According to the attorneys, the priests targeted more than 100 young Black children at Holy Angels parish between 1969 and 2002.

— CBS Chicago Team, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of priest

Noun

The youngest, a middle-school basketball coach who’s thinking about becoming a deacon or pastor, isn’t sure.

— Eric Lau, Washington Post, 9 Oct. 2026
Then his neighbor, a deacon in his church, told him about a previous roommate who had died of cancer, and how he had recently been diagnosed himself.

— Blanca Begert, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of deacon

Noun

Attendance was mandatory, but a cleric with a loudspeaker tried to give the event a festive air.

— Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2026
The lawmaker, Hamid Rasaei, a cleric who has regularly lashed out at Iran’s negotiating team, is a member of the ultra-hard-line political party Paydari.

— Farnaz Fassihi, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of cleric

Noun

Seven top clergypersons of the Armenian Apostolic Church, including the church head, Karekin II, have been charged with crimes related to the church’s refusal to restore a mutinous bishop.

— Fred Weir, Christian Science Monitor, 15 Sep. 2026
What makes the family tradition sustainable in central Massachusetts, where the Vallelis now live, is a pastor-sharing arrangement between two congregations that couldn’t afford a full-time clergyperson on their own.

— G. Jeffrey MacDonald, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Apr. 2020

Definition of clergyperson

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

Definition of ecclesiastic

Browse Nearby Words

clergy

clergyman

clergymen

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Clergyman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clergyman. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of clergyman

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

jilt

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes