priest
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer different religious rites.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
preestIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɹist
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders
A religious clergyman (clergywoman, clergyperson) who is trained to perform services or sacrifices at a church or temple.
A blunt tool, used for quickly stunning and killing fish.
verb
transitive
To ordain as a priest.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders
Used this way, priest is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a religious use: it carries the weight of tradition and ceremony.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Religion/spirituality
- Historical writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use priest
- “The priest gave a blessing after the church service.”
Share your sentence
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “priest” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.