Meaning & use

clergy

noun·Academic

People who are ordained for religious duties, such as priests, ministers, imams, or rabbis, considered as a group.

See it in a sentence

Members of the clergy from several faiths attended the community memorial service.

The clergy met to discuss how the church should respond to the crisis.

A note on using this word

"Clergy" is a collective noun and typically takes a plural verb, as in "the clergy are gathering."

Words with a similar meaning

clergymenministers

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

laity

Make it your own

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