clericalism
/ˈklɛ.ɹɪ.k(ə)ˌlɪ.z(ə)m/
"clericalism" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“clericalism” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Political or secular power invested in members of the clergy.
Corpus desk
Index EN-clericalism · clericalism · English
clericalism · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | clericalism |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈklɛ.ɹɪ.k(ə)ˌlɪ.z(ə)m/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “clericalism” in English
Rare enough to double-check
clericalism is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈklɛ.ɹɪ.k(ə)ˌlɪ.z(ə)m/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Political or secular power invested in members of the clergy.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for clericalism, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From clerical + -ism. The correct English form is clericalism, spelled C-L-E-R-I-C-A-L-I-S-M.
Definition
- 1Political or secular power invested in members of the clergy.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how clericalism appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Ireland in decades past saw an excess of clericalism and disregard for the laity.
'I think I am an anti-clerical,' Father Brown would say with a faint smile; 'but there wouldn't be half so much clericalism if they would only leave things to the clerics.'
Etymology
From clerical + -ism.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.