cleric
Americannoun
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a member of the clergy.
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a member of a clerical party.
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(used with a plural verb) clerics, half-sized or small-sized reading glasses worn on the nose, usually rimless or with a thin metal frame.
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of cleric
1615–25; < Late Latin clēricus priest < Greek klērikós, equivalent to klêr ( os ) lot, allotment + -ikos -ic
Explanation
A religious official or member of the clergy is also known as a cleric. The priest in an Episcopal church is a cleric, and so is a Muslim imam. The term cleric is less common than clergyman and clergywoman, but when you're talking about a Christian or Muslim religious leader, it's a great word to use. Cleric comes from the Latin clericus, "priest," and its Greek root klēros, "inheritance or heritage." It shares these roots with clerk, a word that was originally a synonym of cleric but today more often means "a person working in an office."
Vocabulary lists containing cleric
The Golden Compass
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The Suffix -ic, Part 3
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Unwind
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"The occupier, under the pretext of security and for its own interests, has closed the mosque," cleric Ayman Abu Najm, who had come from Beit Hanina, a Palestinian neighbourhood in east Jerusalem, said.
From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026
Worse yet, Iran’s government tapped hard-line cleric Mojtaba Khamenei—son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—to be its new leader.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026
Painted in about 1598, it shows Barberini as a bearded cleric apparently issuing instructions with his right hand outstretched.
From BBC • Mar. 10, 2026
Few expect major changes in Iran's stance under the younger Khamenei, a trained cleric close to Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
From Barron's • Mar. 9, 2026
Finally, in 1543, a quite different hypothesis to explain the apparent motion of the planets was published by a Polish Catholic cleric named Nicholas Copernicus.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
