clerisy
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈklɛrəsi/
- Literature
:
clérigo
- The clerisy often guides societal values through their writings and teachings.
Examples
-
The forum, held at the Independence Palace, rallied together clerisy, literati, and clergy from more than twenty countries, foreign ambassadors accredited in Astana, MPs, and Kazakhstan artists.
Blog text (6) -
Cameron faces up to the clerisy.
Blog text (1) -
" Unable, for constitutional reasons, to establish a clerisy, we assigned this task to the universities and, more precisely, to their humanities faculties.
Academic text (1997) -
A permanent, condescending clerisy uses the police, the courts, and threats of economic destruction to individuals and families to extract the wealth necessary to keep the guaranteed government checks coming, damn the consequences to the rest of the nation.
Blog text (1) -
In many cultures, the clerisy is respected for its role in shaping public opinion and policy.
-
The discussions among the clerisy highlighted the need for reform in education and governance.
Synonyms
258
4.7
A small group of the most powerful or rich people in a society
9
8.1
A group of well educated people who influence ideas, art and learning
Surface Forms
Etymology
Clerisy comes from cleric, a word for a 'learned' or church person, and is related to the everyday word clerk, which once meant an educated person. A writer used clerisy for the group of educated people who guide literature and ideas, so today it means the educated or intellectual elite of a society.