Clericalism

//ˈklɛ.ɹɪ.k(ə)ˌlɪ.z(ə)m// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Political or secular power invested in members of the clergy. uncountable, usually

    "Ireland in decades past saw an excess of clericalism and disregard for the laity."

  2. 2
    a policy of supporting the influence and power of the clergy in secular or political matters wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
clergyismpriesthood

Example

More examples

"Ireland in decades past saw an excess of clericalism and disregard for the laity."

Etymology

From clerical + -ism.

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