clergyman

noun

cler·​gy·​man ˈklər-jē-mən How to pronounce clergyman (audio)
plural clergymen
: a member of the clergy

Examples of clergyman in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Also on Sunday, a couple of Christian clergymen were to speak at a rally in Dearborn at the Dearborn Manor in support for Palestinians organized by the Michigan Taskforce for Palestine. Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, 26 Feb. 2024 People of a certain age in Ireland remember the shocking outlines of a national scandal: the young American woman and the bishop, the hypocrisy of the clergyman, the baby born out of wedlock and without a present father, the woman’s notorious appearance on an Irish late night talk show. Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2024 Nicaragua on Sunday released 19 clergymen from prison, including Bishop Rolando Álvarez, the country’s most prominent political prisoner, and expelled them to the Vatican. José De Córdoba, WSJ, 14 Jan. 2024 While much of the first season establishes the fractures the Russells create in polite society, season two expands the storylines and brings tension to Agnes and Ada’s relationship when the latter falls in love with a clergyman played by Robert Sean Leonard — much to Agnes’ fury. Tyler Coates, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Dec. 2023 The tragedy inspired a poem by twelve-year-old Benjamin Franklin and a funeral oration by the scourging Puritan clergyman Cotton Mather. Dorothy Wickenden, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2023 The volume was a book of devotional poems by English poet and clergyman George Herbert, who had died in March 1633 at age 39, likely of tuberculosis. V.m. Braganza, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Aug. 2023 In 1857 three stories about Anglican clergymen were published anonymously in Blackwood’s Magazine. Namwali Serpell, The New York Review of Books, 12 Oct. 2023 Her father was an Anglican clergyman; her mother was a homemaker and daughter of Plymouth Brethren missionaries in China who were killed during the xenophobic Boxer Rebellion at the turn of the century. Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'clergyman.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1577, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of clergyman was in 1577

Dictionary Entries Near clergyman

Cite this Entry

“Clergyman.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clergyman. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

clergyman

noun
cler·​gy·​man ˈklər-ji-mən How to pronounce clergyman (audio)
: a member of the clergy
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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