priestcraft
Americannoun
noun
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the art and skills involved in the work of a priest
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derogatory the influence of priests upon politics or the use by them of secular power
Etymology
Origin of priestcraft
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.
In the 1820s and '30s, there was the Workingmen's Movement, pitted against the evils of "kingcraft, priestcraft and lawyercraft."
From Time Magazine Archive
True," said Kate, pointedly; "there would seem something of priestcraft in their r�gime.
From The Daltons, Volume II (of II) Or,Three Roads In Life by Lever, Charles James
The war of ideas was waged against priestcraft, and skepticism was the result.
From Junius Unmasked or, Thomas Paine the author of the Letters of Junius and the Declaration of Independence by Moody, Joel
Amid all the sins and failings, amid all the priestcraft and persecution and fanaticism that have defaced the Church, it has preserved, in the character and example of its Founder, an enduring principle of regeneration.
From History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne (Vol. 2 of 2) by Lecky, William Edward Hartpole
Above there were the priests, who had always from the dawn of time been of the priestcraft, being born a notch lower than the gods themselves, who were the golden globes.
From The Buttoned Sky by Reynard, Geoff St.
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.
