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• catholic
  catholic

  adjective

  broad or wide-ranging in tastes, interests, or the like; having sympathies with all; broad-minded; liberal.
• Catholic
  Catholic

  adjective

  of or relating to a Catholic church, especially the Roman Catholic Church.

catholic

¹ American  

[kath-uh-lik, kath-lik] / ˈkæθ ə lɪk, ˈkæθ lɪk /

adjective

1. broad or wide-ranging in tastes, interests, or the like; having sympathies with all; broad-minded; liberal.

2. universal in extent; involving all; of interest to all.

3. pertaining to the whole Christian body or church.

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Catholic ² American  

[kath-uh-lik, kath-lik] / ˈkæθ ə lɪk, ˈkæθ lɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to a Catholic church, especially the Roman Catholic Church.

2. Theology.

   1. (among Roman Catholics) claiming to possess exclusively the notes or characteristics of the one, only, true, and universal church having unity, visibility, indefectibility, apostolic succession, universality, and sanctity: used in this sense, with these qualifications, only by the Church of Rome, as applicable only to itself and its adherents and to their faith and organization; often qualified, especially by those not acknowledging these claims, by prefixing the word Roman.

   2. (among Anglo-Catholics) noting or pertaining to the conception of the church as the body representing the ancient undivided Christian witness, comprising all the orthodox churches that have kept the apostolic succession of bishops, and including the Anglican Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Church of Sweden, the Old Catholic Church (in the Netherlands and elsewhere), etc.

3. pertaining to the Western Church.

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noun

• Catholics
  plural

1. a member of a Catholic church, especially of the Roman Catholic Church.

Catholic ¹ British  

/ ˈkæθlɪk, ˈkæθəlɪk /

adjective

1. denoting or relating to the entire body of Christians, esp to the Church before separation into the Greek or Eastern and Latin or Western Churches

2. denoting or relating to the Latin or Western Church after this separation

3. denoting or relating to the Roman Catholic Church

4. denoting or relating to any church, belief, etc, that claims continuity with or originates in the ancient undivided Church

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noun

1. a member of any of the Churches regarded as Catholic, esp the Roman Catholic Church

catholic ² British  

/ ˈkæθəlɪk, ˈkæθlɪk /

adjective

1. universal; relating to all men; all-inclusive

2. comprehensive in interests, tastes, etc; broad-minded; liberal

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• catholicalness
  noun
• catholicness
  noun
• anti-Catholic
  adjective
• non-Catholic
  adjective
• pro-Catholic
  adjective
• pseudo-Catholic
  adjective
• supercatholic
  adjective
• uncatholic
  adjective
• catholically
  adverb
• catholicly
  adverb
• pseudocatholically
  adverb
• supercatholically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Catholics
  plural

Etymology

Origin of catholic¹

First recorded in 1300–1350; Middle English, from Latin catholicus, from Greek katholikós “general,” from kathól(ou) “universally” (contraction of phrase katà hólou “according to the whole”; see cata-, holo-) + -ikos -ic

Origin of Catholic²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English; special use of catholic

Explanation

When capitalized, Catholic refers to the Catholic Church. With a lower-case "c," catholic means "universal" and "inclusive." If you listen to anything from hip-hop to Baroque, you have catholic taste in music. When it entered the English language in the sixteenth century, catholic simply meant "general" or "common." Applied to the Western Church, it essentially meant "the Church universal," or the whole body of Christian believers, as opposed to separate congregations. After the Reformation, the Western Church called itself the Catholic Church to distinguish itself from communities of faith that were no longer obedient to Rome. This usage remains the most common, although you can still use catholic to mean general.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

catholic Catholic Catholics

Church officials have said that they do not expect an impact to diocese-run elementary and high schools along with catholic charities and other area affiliates.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2025

He went on to become the king of the 1980s TV mini-series, playing a western prisoner in Shogun and a catholic priest tempted by love in The Thorn Birds.

From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2025

When she spoke to wide audiences, her language was careful and catholic; one often had the sense that she was trying to say as little as possible beyond her talking points.

From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2024

Ms. Pressman’s eye was impeccable, and her tastes were catholic.

From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2024

But a strange and catholic selection of citizens tiptoed to the chapel door and peered in and went away—lawyers and laborers and clerks and bank tellers, most of them past middle age.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

The FEMA-funded case management program was activated on Jan. 8, 2025, when the California Department of Social Services entered an agreement with Catholic Charities of California to oversee casework for thousands of L.A. wildfire victims.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Almost 80% of Liechtenstein's population of about 41,000 people belong to the Roman Catholic Church which is opposed to abortion.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

Catholic Charities of California works with a network of nonprofits, including CORE, to pair households with case managers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

It happened in north Belfast when loyalist protesters tried to block the route taken by Holy Cross school pupils and their parents, who were from a Catholic background, on their walk to class.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

The Catholic youth rallied and rang the church bell for an hour and a half.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Protestants claimed that Catholics were attacking their homes and said the school protest was their way of highlighting their concerns.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

But the poll noted that Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, had higher favorability ratings among American Catholics during the same time in their respective reigns — 90% to Leo’s 75%.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

“To find we have been ostracized for practicing as Catholics have done for 2000 years is of great anxiety to us.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

Tens of thousands of Catholics flocked to a small parish in the Mekong Delta on Thursday for the first beatification ceremony held on Vietnamese soil.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

We’re the kind of Catholics who think people shouldn’t go to hell for being nonhetero, and that was before I even came out.

From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera