clergyperson

noun

ˈklər-jē-ˌpər-sᵊn How to pronounce clergyperson (audio)
Definition of clergypersonnext
as in priest
a person specially trained and authorized to conduct religious services in a Christian church a clergyperson of your choice would be the best one to advise on this spiritual matter

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of clergyperson What makes the family tradition sustainable in central Massachusetts, where the Vallelis now live, is a pastor-sharing arrangement between two congregations that couldn’t afford a full-time clergyperson on their own. — G. Jeffrey MacDonald, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Apr. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clergyperson
  1. priest
  2. preacher
  3. clergyman
  4. pastor
Noun
  • The Vatican said the photo was taken Sunday when the pope celebrated Mass with other priests in the chapel.
    — Joshua McElwee, USA TODAY, 16 Mar. 2025
  • Meanwhile, cries for help emerged on social media for a group of priests trapped inside a church in the Carrefour-Feuilles neighborhood, which endured much of the attack by the Viv Ansanm gang coalition that began late Tuesday.
    — Compiled by Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 14 Mar. 2025
Definition of priest
Noun
  • To the congregation, Rose had been much more than a charismatic preacher.
    — Guthrie Scrimgeour, Rolling Stone, 16 Mar. 2025
  • Blige also connected jazz (scat singing, riffing on a phrase, improvising wordless lines), gospel (testifying akin to a preacher delivering a sermon) and hip hop traditions.
    — Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, 15 Mar. 2025
Definition of preacher
Noun
  • Kirchner had, a year earlier, backed sanctions for clergymen who publicly opposed the government’s human rights policies, including his decision to annul laws pardoning dictatorship-era atrocities.
    — Federico Perelmuter, The Dial, 13 Mar. 2025
  • The emails, sent from Saints accounts, don’t specify which clergymen were removed from the list or why.
    — Brett Martel, Chicago Tribune, 3 Feb. 2025
Definition of clergyman
Noun
  • While in town, travelers can also visit the Rosa Parks Museum, which tells the story of the Montgomery bus boycott and the fight against segregation, and the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where Dr. King served as a pastor.
    — Bailey Berg, AFAR Media, 14 Mar. 2025
  • Despite all the pastor’s conventionality and sanctimony, there are flames between them, but those flickers run fairly cool until a breaking point in which Manders at last makes explicit reference to them.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2025
Definition of pastor

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“Clergyperson.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clergyperson. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.

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