Clerical

adj, noun, slang

adj, noun, slang ·3 syllables ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A member of the clergy. uncommon
  2. 2
    Clerical garments. in-plural, informal
Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or relating to clerks or their work. not-comparable

    "‘The groans of this sick person,’ he said, ‘distract my attention. And without that it is extremely difficult to guard against clerical errors in this climate.’"

  2. 2
    Of or relating to the clergy. not-comparable
Adjective
  1. 1
    appropriate for or engaged in office work wordnet
  2. 2
    of or relating to the clergy wordnet
  3. 3
    of or relating to clerks wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
abbatialabbaticalabbeaccountingapostolicarchiepiscopal

Example

More examples

"The church's publication of a rant against same-sex marriage was clearly a clerical error."

Etymology

From Late Latin clēricālis (“clerical”), from clēricus (“clergyman, priest”).

Related phrases

clerical collarclerical errorclerical marriageclerical script

More for "clerical"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.