anticlerical

See also: anticlérical

English

Etymology

From anti- +‎ clerical.

Adjective

anticlerical (comparative more anticlerical, superlative most anticlerical)

1. Opposed to political influence of clerics.

Derived terms

• anticlericalism

Translations

opposed to political influence of clerics

• Catalan: anticlerical (ca) c
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 反教權 / 反教权 (fǎnjiàoquán)

• Dutch: antiklerikaal (nl)
• Galician: anticlerical (gl)
• German: antiklerikal (de)
• Italian: anticlericale (it)
• Polish: antyklerykalny (pl)
• Portuguese: anticlerical, anticlericalista
• Spanish: anticlerical (es)
• Swedish: antiklerikal (sv)

Noun

anticlerical (plural anticlericals)

1. One who opposes the political influence of clerics.
   • 1926, G. K. Chesterton, The Resurrection of Father Brown:

     '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.'

Translations

one opposed to political influence of clerics

• Catalan: anticlerical (ca) m or f
• Dutch: antiklerikaal (nl) m
• Galician: anticlerical (gl)
• German: Antikleriker m
• Italian: anticlericale (it) m or f
• Polish: antyklerykał (pl) m
• Portuguese: anticlericalista m or f

Catalan

Etymology

From anti- +‎ clerical.

Adjective

anticlerical m or f (masculine and feminine plural anticlericals)

1. (politics) anticlerical

Derived terms

• anticlericalisme

Further reading

• “anticlerical”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026

Portuguese

Etymology

From anti- +‎ clerical.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌɐ̃.t͡ʃi.kle.ɾiˈkaw/ [ˌɐ̃.t͡ʃi.kle.ɾiˈkaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌɐ̃.ti.klɛ.ɾiˈkal/ [ˌɐ̃.ti.klɛ.ɾiˈkaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌɐ̃.ti.klɛ.ɾiˈkal/ [ˌɐ̃.ti.klɛ.ɾiˈkaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌɐ̃.ti.klɛ.ɾiˈka.li/

Adjective

anticlerical m or f (plural anticlericais)

1. (politics) anticlerical (opposed to political influence of clerics)

   Synonym: anticlericalista

Further reading

• “anticlerical”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “anticlerical”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French anticlérical. By surface analysis, anti- +‎ clerical.

Adjective

anticlerical m or n (feminine singular anticlericală, masculine plural anticlericali, feminine/neuter plural anticlericale)

1. anticlerical

Declension

Declension of anticlerical

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	anticlerical		anticlericală		anticlericali	anticlericale
	definite	anticlericalul		anticlericala		anticlericalii	anticlericalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	anticlerical		anticlericale		anticlericali	anticlericale
	definite	anticlericalului		anticlericalei		anticlericalilor	anticlericalelor

Spanish

Etymology

From anti- +‎ clerical.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌantikleɾiˈkal/ [ˌãn̪.t̪i.kle.ɾiˈkal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: an‧ti‧cle‧ri‧cal

Adjective

anticlerical m or f (masculine and feminine plural anticlericales)

1. anticlerical

Related terms

• anticlericalismo

Further reading

• “anticlerical”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025