man of the cloth

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man of the cloth

n. pl. men of the cloth

A clergyman.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cler•gy•man

(ˈklɜr dʒi mən)

n., pl. -men.

a member of the clergy.

[1570–80]

usage: See -man.

man of the cloth

- Originally applied to anyone who wore a uniform or livery for work.

See also related terms for uniform.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

man of the cloth - a member of the clergy and a spiritual leader of the Christian Church

clergyman, reverend

clergy - in Christianity, clergymen collectively (as distinguished from the laity)

spiritual leader - a leader in religious or sacred affairs

acolyte - someone who assists a priest or minister in a liturgical service; a cleric ordained in the highest of the minor orders in the Roman Catholic Church but not in the Anglican Church or the Eastern Orthodox Churches

anagnost - a cleric in the minor orders of the Eastern Orthodox Church who reads the lessons aloud in the liturgy (analogous to the lector in the Roman Catholic Church)

archdeacon - (Anglican Church) an ecclesiastical dignitary usually ranking just below a bishop

chaplain - a clergyman ministering to some institution

churchman, cleric, ecclesiastic, divine - a clergyman or other person in religious orders

curate, minister, minister of religion, parson, pastor, rector - a person authorized to conduct religious worship; "clergymen are usually called ministers in Protestant churches"

deacon - a cleric ranking just below a priest in Christian churches; one of the Holy Orders

domine, dominee, dominie, dominus - a clergyman; especially a settled minister or parson

ostiarius, ostiary, doorkeeper - the lowest of the minor Holy Orders in the unreformed Western Church but now suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church

lector, reader - someone who reads the lessons in a church service; someone ordained in a minor order of the Roman Catholic Church

officiant - a clergyman who officiates at a religious ceremony or service

ordinand - a person being ordained

ordinary - a clergyman appointed to prepare condemned prisoners for death

postulator - (Roman Catholic Church) someone who proposes or pleads for a candidate for beatification or canonization

preacher, preacher man, sermoniser, sermonizer - someone whose occupation is preaching the gospel

priest - a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders

shepherd - a clergyman who watches over a group of people

subdeacon - a clergyman an order below deacon; one of the Holy Orders in the unreformed western Christian church and the eastern Catholic Churches but now suppressed in the Roman Catholic Church

vicar - (Church of England) a clergyman appointed to act as priest of a parish

vicar - (Episcopal Church) a clergyman in charge of a chapel

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References in periodicals archive ?

He said the man of the cloth was found guilty of releasing sensitive information to journalists without consulting officers who are authorised to speak to the media.The bishop becomes the fifth person to be arrested in Matungu and released without charges.

Bishop arrested over Matungu killings freed with warning

"What we are saying is if you are a man of the cloth, your job is about the spiritual awakening of the faithful," Panelo said at a press briefing.

Stop 'interfering' with state affairs, clergy asked

The only thing more condemnable than the unspeakable depravity of inflicting abuse on a minor is the perpetration of such barbarism by a man of the cloth. The incident of the horrific torture of a minor girl by clerics of a religious seminary, who died at the Nishtar Hospital, is but one more tragic case of abuse in a series of such persecutions carried out on children enrolled in seminaries.

Seminaries And Child-Abuse

For a man of the cloth (the denomination does not matter) to be spat at, threatened and abused and for parishioners attending to their religious needs to be intimidated and fearful is an awful state of affairs.

Shameful attack on Catholic priest; RECORD VIEW

As a man of the cloth he does religion a disservice by spreading malign twisting of truth, instead of promoting tolerance, understanding and hope.

'EU is rich man's club'

He plays Father Aherne, the man of the cloth who likes a flutter and his gambling choices are serving him well.

HOT TICKET

Summary: A Muslim scholar has been expelled from his seminary in Lebanon after a video of his piano playing, posted online, drew criticism from conservatives who felt it was undignified behavior for a man of the cloth, he said.

Shiite sheikh's piano playing strikes wrong note for some

All the fun's been sucked out by a man of the cloth - but wait, there's a new kid in town.

FOOTLOOSE KING'S THEATRE, EDINBURGH

GETTING arrested and dragged off a cruise liner by the FBI is something you definitely wouldn't expect of a man of the cloth.

Anything goes as Rev Pev returns to stage

The commission now led by a man of the cloth, retired Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, no longer releases monthly and quarterly graft reports for the public and media to know the status of investigations as used to happen during Matemo's reign.

Corridors of Power

Surprised by the Rev's response, the lady says, "Once a man of the cloth realizes who I am, they cooperate without much fuss."

WATCH: 'Midnight, Texas' Season 1, Episode 7 Sneak Peek

Alas, CC's former sponsor was supposedly a man of the cloth! Moreover, CC was once among the wards of Influential Gay.