| / English Dictionary |
SECULAR
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Someone who is not a clergyman or a professional person
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("secular" is a kind of...):
common man; common person; commoner (a person who holds no title)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "secular"):
lay reader (a layman who is authorized by the bishop to read parts of the service in an Anglican or Episcopal church)
Holonyms ("secular" is a member of...):
laity; temporalty (in Christianity, members of a religious community that do not have the priestly responsibilities of ordained clergy)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Of or relating to clergy not bound by monastic vows
Example:
the secular clergy
Classified under:
Antonym:
religious (of or relating to clergy bound by monastic vows)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Not concerned with or devoted to religion
Example:
children being brought up in an entirely profane environment
Synonyms:
profane; secular
Classified under:
Similar:
laic; lay; secular (characteristic of those who are not members of the clergy)
profanatory (profaning or tending to desecrate)
Also:
earthly (of or belonging to or characteristic of this earth as distinguished from heaven)
impious (lacking piety or reverence for a god)
secular; temporal; worldly (characteristic of or devoted to the temporal world as opposed to the spiritual world)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Characteristic of those who are not members of the clergy
Example:
the lay ministry
Synonyms:
laic; lay; secular
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
profane; secular (not concerned with or devoted to religion)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Characteristic of or devoted to the temporal world as opposed to the spiritual world
Example:
temporal possessions of the church
Synonyms:
secular; temporal; worldly
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
economic (concerned with worldly necessities of life (especially money))
material (concerned with worldly rather than spiritual interests)
materialistic; mercenary; worldly-minded (marked by materialism)
mundane; terrestrial (concerned with the world or worldly matters)
Also:
earthly (of or belonging to or characteristic of this earth as distinguished from heaven)
profane; secular (not concerned with or devoted to religion)
sophisticated (having or appealing to those having worldly knowledge and refinement and savoir-faire)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Of or relating to the doctrine that rejects religion and religious considerations
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Pertainym:
secularism (a doctrine that rejects religion and religious considerations)
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