ecclesiasticism

[ ih-klee-zee-as-tuh-siz-uhm ]

noun

1. ecclesiastical principles, practices, or spirit.
2. devotion, especially excessive devotion, to the principles or interests of the church.

ecclesiasticism

/ ɪˌkliːzɪˈæstɪˌsɪzəm /

noun

1. exaggerated attachment to the practices or principles of the Christian Church

Other Words From

• anti·ec·clesi·asti·cism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ecclesiasticism¹

First recorded in 1860–65; ecclesiastic + -ism

Example Sentences

The piece is about ecclesiasticism, and the big but contained joy that informs the act of creativity—along with power and elegance and modesty.

From The New Yorker

He thus extended the meaning of the word far beyond the narrow range of ecclesiasticism.

From Project Gutenberg

But the moral order is no more a part of ecclesiasticism than earthquakes are.

From Project Gutenberg

Those who formed the system of Christian ecclesiasticism never could afford to have a conscience.

From Project Gutenberg

Sacerdotal ecclesiasticism is Christianity that has lost the Aristotelian disinterestedness of devotion to intellectual and social ends higher and wider than its own institutional aggrandisement.

From Project Gutenberg