clerical collar

noun

: a narrow stiffly upright white collar worn buttoned at the back of the neck by members of the clergy

Examples of clerical collar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The top and bottoms of a tracksuit are made of a silk blend with a white and navy colorway that nods to a clerical collar. — Nicole Demarco Dalya Benor Caitie Kelly Juan A. Ramírez Monica Mendal Janet Siroto, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024 Stock gets its name from its flowers, festooned tightly around the stalk that bears them, suggesting the familiar clerical collar known as a bib stock. — Joshua Siskin, Orange County Register, 30 Jan. 2025 He’s accompanied by another man of the cloth, this gentleman slightly older, a white clerical collar peeking out from his rain jacket. — Gregg Doyel, The Indianapolis Star, 18 July 2022 Just last week, the internet melted down over paparazzi photos of Josh O’Connor in a clerical collar on the set of Knives Out 3. — Ellen O’Connell Whittet, Vogue, 19 June 2024 Imagine Beto O’Rourke with a clerical collar and capacity to mint money. — Los Angeles Times, 27 May 2026 In particular, viewers have commented on Father Duplenticy's neck tattoo, which ever so slightly peeks from out his clerical collar. — Greta Cross, USA Today, 18 Dec. 2025 In the same photo used year after year, Galizia wears a clerical collar and flashes an enigmatic smile worthy of the Mona Lisa against the granite wall of a church in his native Palermo. — ABC News, 20 May 2026 In Chicago, the indelible image of a pastor in a clerical collar shot in the head with a pepper ball by agents standing on the rooftop of an ICE building is a direct violation of CBP’s use of force policy. — Andy Rose 19 Hr Ago, CNN Money, 9 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1726, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of clerical collar was in 1726

Rhymes for clerical collar

See All Rhymes for clerical collar

Browse Nearby Words

clerical
clerical collar
clerical error
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Clerical collar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clerical%20collar. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

clerical collar

noun
: a narrow stiffly upright white collar worn by members of the clergy
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All