Clerisy
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Pronunciation /ˈklɛɹɪsi/ · Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Clerisy is a noun meaning An elite group of intellectuals; learned people, the literati.
Meaning
An elite group of intellectuals; learned people, the literati.
More Meanings
- The clergy, or their opinions, as opposed to the laity.
Example Sentences
Few men have ever had a stronger conviction of their clerisy, of their belonging to the clerkly caste of the responsibles.
2022: We invent ourselves as American writers—it's not a clerisy we’re born into... — Edward Hirsch, The Heart of American Poetry (Library of America, 2022)
2003: By the nineteenth-century clerisy […] Christianity itself, yoked to material civilization, came to be questioned as gross and vulgar. — Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason (Penguin 2004, p. 432)
2016: Only the highly educated write so badly. Indeed, the point of such ludicrous prose is to signal membership in a closed clerisy that possesses a private language. — George F. Will, Washington Post, 18 Nov, 2016
Word Forms
- clerisies
Synonyms for clerisy
Depending on context, synonyms include intelligentsia.
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include intelligentsia, illiterati, clericature, clericocracy, synclite, lyceum.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.