ministerial
Americanadjective
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of or relating to a minister of religion or his office
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of or relating to a government minister or ministry
a ministerial act
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(often capital) of or supporting the ministry or government against the opposition
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law relating to or possessing delegated executive authority
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law (of an office, duty, etc) requiring the following of instructions, without power to exercise any personal discretion in doing so
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acting as an agent or cause; instrumental
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ministerial
1555–65; < Late Latin ministeriālis, equivalent to Latin ministeri ( um ) ministry + -ālis -al 1
Explanation
Ministerial means having to do with a minister of a religion, or a government. If your dad is a pastor, he may have to make it clear if he is telling you not to lie as a father, or in his ministerial capacity. Ministerial derives from the Latin minister meaning "servant." A religious minister is a servant of God. A government minister is the head of a department, but also a servant of the government. Their work is their ministry, thus ministerial means pertaining to that work. If, as England's minister of defense, you streamlined the military, that streamlining would be your ministerial legacy.
Vocabulary lists containing ministerial
The Picture of Dorian Gray
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The Federalist Papers, No. 39 by James Madison
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Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
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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.
While prime ministerial resignations are often intense affairs, there is actually a lot of waiting around as the world’s press gathers in Downing Street.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
And beyond the symbolism of having a prime ministerial office outside London, what, in practical terms, can No10 North actually achieve?
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
That brings us back to the State Department’s ministerial.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
After the Atherton Inquiry, RAF veteran Stacey Denyer, who left the service in 2023, was one of a number of servicewomen who joined a ministerial roundtable to discuss putting its recommendations into practice.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
American independence became his ministerial calling, a mission he pursued with all the compressed energy of a latter-day Puritan pastor whose congregation was the American people.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
