clerical
Americanadjective
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of, pertaining to, appropriate for, or assigned to an office clerk or clerks.
a clerical job.
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doing the work of a clerk or clerks.
a clerical assistant;
a clerical staff.
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of, relating to, or characteristic of the clergy or a member of the clergy.
clerical garb.
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advocating the power or influence of the clergy in politics, government, etc..
a clerical party.
noun
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a cleric.
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Informal. clericals, clerical garments.
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a person or a party advocating the power or influence of the church in politics, government, etc.
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a person who does clerical work; office worker; clerk.
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Also called clerical error. a minor error, as in the keeping of records, the transcribing of documents, or the handling of correspondence.
adjective
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relating to or associated with the clergy
clerical dress
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of or relating to office clerks or their work
a clerical error
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supporting or advocating clericalism
Other Word Forms
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clericalitynoun
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interclericaladjective
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nonclericaladjective
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preclericaladjective
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proclericaladjective
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pseudoclericaladjective
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quasi-clericaladjective
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semiclericaladjective
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unclericaladjective
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clericallyadverb
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nonclericallyadverb
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pseudoclericallyadverb
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quasi-clericallyadverb
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semiclericallyadverb
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unclericallyadverb
Etymology
Origin of clerical
1425–75 for sense “learned”; 1585–95 clerical for def. 3; late Middle English < Late Latin clēricālis, equivalent to clēric ( us ) cleric + -ālis -al 1
Explanation
Anything related to office work is called clerical, especially the more menial and boring jobs such as filing and administration. You might say "The Office" is a clerical comedy. In older times clerical had an additional common meaning of referring to anything to do with the clergy — those ordained for religious work, usually in the Christian faith. Clerical comes from the old Latin term clericus, meaning a "churchman," from which cleric later came, meaning a priest or religious leader. To have "a clerical air" means to be clearly identifiable either as an ink-stained office wretch or a member of the cloth.
Vocabulary lists containing clerical
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Wearing a clerical collared shirt, Boateng moves through rows of buses loading passengers before boarding one bound for Kumasi, Ghana's second-largest city.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Senhor José joins the ranks of Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener and Gogol’s Akaky Akakievich, frayed creatures of clerical administration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
He pointed out that clerical and office-support jobs have been declining for years due to new technology such as computers and the internet.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
Born in Sacramento, he is the son of Mexican immigrants: His mother was a clerical worker and his father picked vegetables, worked in construction and had other jobs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
When all seemed lost, Handsome Harold entered with his pink face and his clerical garb.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
