Even people who don't believe in the Catholic church venerate the Pope as a symbolic leader.
Source: tatoeba (1940)
Catholic
/ˈkæ.θ(ə.)lɪk/
Synonyms for "catholic" (81 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (17)
all comprehensiveall embracingall inclusiveall pervadingall-comprehendingall-comprehensiveall-coveringall-embracingall-encompassingall-fillingall-includingall-inclusiveall-pervadingalloverbroadbroad-gauged
Noun(1 words)
broad minded
Strong matches (24)
Noun(6 words)
Related words (40)
Adjective(1 words)
inclusiveindeterminateinternationallarge-scaleliberalnationalnondenominationalnoninsularnonsectariannostrumplanetaryprevalentpublicspacious of mindsweepingtoleranttotalunbigotedunfanaticalunhidebound
Show 9 more words
Adjective(3 words)
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: all comprehensive, all embracing, all inclusive, all pervading, all-comprehending.
- Sentence evidence is available for catholic, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from derived_reverse, moby, opengloss.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "catholic".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "catholic"
Keep "catholic" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "catholic" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "catholic", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "catholic" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
9 entriesMore specific
15 entriesCollocations
9 entriesCatholic ChurchCatholic UniversityCatholic doctrineCatholic educationCatholic faithCatholic liturgyCatholic social teachingCatholic traditioncatholic worldview
Inflections
3 entriesDerivations
3 entriessimilar
1 entriesTranslations
145 translations across 64 languages.
Albanian
2 entries- katolik noun (member of a Catholic church)
- katolike noun (member of a Catholic church)
Arabic
4 entries- جَاثَلِيقِيّ adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- كَاتُولِيكِيّ adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- كَاثُولِيكِيّ adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- كَتْلَكِيّ adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Armenian
1 entries- կաթոլիկ noun (member of a Catholic church)
Aromanian
4 entries- catolic noun (member of a Catholic church)
- catolicã noun (member of a Catholic church)
- catulic noun (member of a Catholic church)
- catulicã noun (member of a Catholic church)
Asturian
1 entries- católicu adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Belarusian
2 entries- каталі́к noun (member of a Catholic church)
- като́лік noun (member of a Catholic church)
Bulgarian
1 entries- католик noun (member of a Catholic church)
Burmese
1 entries- ကက်သလစ် adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Catalan
2 entries- catòlic adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- catòlic noun (member of a Catholic church)
Chinese Mandarin
1 entries- 天主教徒 noun (member of a Catholic church)
Czech
3 entries- katolický adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- katolička noun (member of a Catholic church)
- katolík noun (member of a Catholic church)
Danish
2 entries- katolsk adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- katolik noun (member of a Catholic church)
Dutch
2 entries- katholiek adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- katholiek noun (member of a Catholic church)
Emilian
2 entries- catòlgo adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- catòlgo noun (member of a Catholic church)
Esperanto
2 entries- katolika adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- katoliko noun (member of a Catholic church)
Farefare
1 entries- katolika adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Faroese
2 entries- katólskur adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- katolikkur noun (member of a Catholic church)
Finnish
3 entries- katolinen adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- roomalaiskatolinen adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- katolilainen noun (member of a Catholic church)
French
2 entries- catholique adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- catholique noun (member of a Catholic church)
Galician
2 entries- católico adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- católico noun (member of a Catholic church)
German
3 entries- katholisch adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- Katholik noun (member of a Catholic church)
- Katholikin noun (member of a Catholic church)
Greek
4 entries- καθολική adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- καθολικός adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- καθολική noun (member of a Catholic church)
- καθολικός noun (member of a Catholic church)
Hebrew
1 entries- קתולי adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Hindi
2 entries- कैथोलिक adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- कैथोलिक noun (member of a Catholic church)
Hungarian
2 entries- katolikus adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- katolikus noun (member of a Catholic church)
Hunsrik
1 entries- katolisch adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Icelandic
2 entries- kaþólskur adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- kaþólikki noun (member of a Catholic church)
Ido
2 entries- katolika adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- katoliko noun (member of a Catholic church)
Indonesian
2 entries- Katolik adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- Katolik noun (member of a Catholic church)
Irish
2 entries- Caitliceach adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- Caitliceach noun (member of a Catholic church)
Italian
2 entries- cattolico adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- cattolico noun (member of a Catholic church)
Japanese
3 entries- カソリック adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- カトリック adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- 公教の adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Kazakh
1 entries- католик noun (member of a Catholic church)
Khmer
2 entries- កាតូលិក adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- កាតូលិក noun (member of a Catholic church)
Latvian
3 entries- katolisks adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- katoliete noun (member of a Catholic church)
- katolis noun (member of a Catholic church)
Lithuanian
4 entries- katalikiška adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- katalikiškas adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- katalikas noun (member of a Catholic church)
- katalikė noun (member of a Catholic church)
Low German
1 entries- kathoolsch adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Luganda
1 entries- omukatoliki adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Macedonian
2 entries- католички adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- католик noun (member of a Catholic church)
Malay
1 entries- Katolik adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Manx
1 entries- Catoleagh adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Māori
2 entries- Katorika noun (member of a Catholic church)
- Pikopō noun (member of a Catholic church)
Norwegian Bokmål
1 entries- katolikk noun (member of a Catholic church)
Norwegian Nynorsk
1 entries- katolikk noun (member of a Catholic church)
Old Ruthenian
4 entries- като́ликъ noun (member of a Catholic church)
- католи́чъка noun (member of a Catholic church)
- кафо́ликъ noun (member of a Catholic church)
- каѳо́ликъ noun (member of a Catholic church)
Pannonian Rusyn
2 entries- католїк noun (member of a Catholic church)
- католїкиня noun (member of a Catholic church)
Persian
1 entries- کاتولیک adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Polish
3 entries- katolicki adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- katoliczka noun (member of a Catholic church)
- katolik noun (member of a Catholic church)
Portuguese
2 entries- católico adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- católico noun (member of a Catholic church)
Romanian
3 entries- catolic adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- catolic noun (member of a Catholic church)
- catolică noun (member of a Catholic church)
Russian
3 entries- католи́ческий adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- като́лик noun (member of a Catholic church)
- католи́чка noun (member of a Catholic church)
Samogitian
2 entries- katalėks noun (member of a Catholic church)
- katalėkė noun (member of a Catholic church)
Scottish Gaelic
2 entries- Caitligeach adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- Catlaigeach adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- katolička adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- kȁtoličkī adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- ка̏толичкӣ adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- католичка adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Slovak
1 entries- katolícky adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Sogdian
1 entries- ܩܬܘܠܝܩܐ adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
Spanish
3 entries- católico adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- católica noun (member of a Catholic church)
- católico noun (member of a Catholic church)
Swahili
2 entries- katoliki adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- Mkatoliki noun (member of a Catholic church)
Swedish
1 entries- katolik noun (member of a Catholic church)
Thai
1 entries- คาทอลิก noun (member of a Catholic church)
Ukrainian
3 entries- католи́цький adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- като́лик noun (member of a Catholic church)
- католи́чка noun (member of a Catholic church)
Urdu
4 entries- کاتھولک adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- کیتھولک adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- کاتھولک noun (member of a Catholic church)
- کیتھولک noun (member of a Catholic church)
Vietnamese
1 entries- người Công giáo noun (member of a Catholic church)
Welsh
2 entries- Catholig adj (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)
- Catholig noun (member of a Catholic church)
Sample sentences
24 total sentences available.
Mass is a Catholic ceremony of remembering Jesus Christ by eating and drinking.
Source: tatoeba (32286)
Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun who lived and worked in Calcutta, India.
Source: tatoeba (32863)
The Catholic Church is opposed to divorce.
Source: tatoeba (63655)
Showing 4 of 24 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "catholic"?
Closest matches include all comprehensive, all embracing, all inclusive, all pervading, all-comprehending.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "catholic"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.