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
The Hate U Give
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Kindred
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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.
Roughly 20% to 30% of travel-insurance claims are denied, according to Squaremouth, usually due to missing paperwork or clerical errors.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Khamenei was born in Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city located in the north-east of the country, and studied at seminaries in the city before moving to Qom, the centre of Iran's Shia clerical establishment.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
Following Khomeini's death on June 3, 1989, the Assembly of Experts clerical body convened an emergency session and named Khamenei interim leader.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
Imagine Beto O’Rourke with a clerical collar and capacity to mint money.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
They asked, secondly, that he renounce the fight against clerical influence in order to obtain the support of the Catholic masses.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Definitions 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.
