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Glite Dictionary
Jesuitical

Jesuitical

1 9.9
Connected to Jesuit priests or carefully avoiding a clear answer in argument
  • adjective
  • /ˌdʒɛzʊˈɪtɪkəl/
  • Slur
: jesuítico
  • The politician's Jesuitical tactics confused the public during the debate.

Examples

  • His Jesuitical training has seen to that.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • My intention is to pull together Jesuitical and Catholic subjects that interest me.

    Blog text (28)

  • Oh, how can my mad Jesuitical, terrible, beautiful, haunted, excited, and ecstatic life, and all my thinking and feeling, all that caring, how can that merely die out?

    Fiction book (1997)

  • I'd always appreciated the so-called Jesuitical reasoning that allowed Catholic prelates to eat beaver and otter on Fridays because they also swam in the sea, and by such tortured logic, could be defined as fish.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • His arguments are often very Jesuitical, relying on subtle reasoning to persuade others.

  • He took a Jesuitical approach to the discussion, cleverly avoiding the main issue.

Synonyms

Jesuit
vsJesuitical
12 8.6

Showing careful, subtle reasoning and strict moral teaching

is more about subtle craftiness in argument than doctrinal focus
Jesuitic
vsJesuitical
  • Offensive
9.9

Being clever and indirect in arguments to avoid giving a direct answer

is broader, also describes general relation to that religious order

Antonyms

honest
∞ 1.0

Truthful and fair, not cheating or lying

straightforward
94 3.7

Something that is easy to understand and clear

How Cunning

devious
49 6.4
crafty
49 4.5
Jesuitical
  • Slur
1 9.9
subtle
339 6.0
plain
45 2.0

Surface Forms

jesuitical positive

Morphology

Jesuitical = Jesuit (semi-transparent) = Jesuit + ical

Formation from 'Jesuit' + '-ical' is clear, but the extended meaning 'cunning' is a culturally loaded figurative sense not predictable from the base.

Etymology

Jesuitical comes from Jesuit, the name for a member of a Catholic group, plus the ending -ical that makes an adjective. Because Jesuits were known for careful, subtle argument, Jesuitical can mean 'relating to Jesuits' or 'clever' and sometimes 'slightly tricky' in argument.