secular

Pluralseculars

1. 1
   adjective

   Not connected to religion, and about everyday public life rather than the church.

   Like a town hall instead of a church: a place for everyday life, not worship.

   Public schools offer a secular education open to children of every faith.

   They wanted a secular wedding, with no prayers or hymns.

   Similarnonreligious, civil, lay, temporal

   Oppositereligious, sacred, ecclesiastical, spiritual

2. 2
   adjective

   To do with the everyday world, not with things that are eternal or holy.

   Like caring about today's plans instead of about forever.

   He set aside his secular worries to focus on what truly mattered.

   Their secular goals were money and fame, nothing lasting.

   Similarworldly, temporal, earthly, mundane

   Oppositespiritual, eternal, sacred, heavenly

   Note
3. 3
   adjective

   Lasting or continuing for a very long time.

   Like a slow change you only notice after many years.

   The country saw a secular rise in living standards over fifty years.

   There has been a secular shift toward online shopping.

   Similarlong-term, sustained, persistent, prolonged, enduring

   Oppositecyclical, short-term, temporary, transient

   Note
4. 4
   adjective

   Belonging to the ordinary clergy, not bound by a monastery's vows.

   Like a worker who goes home each night instead of living where they work.

   A secular priest serves a parish instead of living in a monastery.

   He became a secular clergyman and worked among ordinary people.

   Similardiocesan

   Oppositeregular, monastic

   Note
5. 5
   nouncountable

   An ordinary person who is not a priest or member of the clergy.

   Like someone in the audience rather than up on the stage.

   As a secular, he had no role in leading the church service.

   The council included both clergy and one secular from the town.

   Similarlayperson, layman

   Oppositecleric, clergyman

   Note
6. 6
   nouncountable

   A member of the clergy who does not live under monastery rules.

   Like a worker who lives at home rather than in a company dorm.

   As a secular, he lived in the village and ran the local parish.

   The abbey welcomed both monks and one visiting secular.

   Oppositeregular

   Note
7. 7
   adjective

   Happening only once in a very long age or century.

   Like a party that comes around only once every hundred years.

   The secular festival was held only once every hundred years.

   Such a secular celebration came along just once in a lifetime.

   Similarcentennial

   Note
8. 8
   adjectiveliterary

   Very old, having lasted for hundreds of years.

   Like a tree so old that your great-great-grandparents saw it too.

   The secular oaks had stood on the hill for many hundreds of years.

   They walked beneath the secular walls of the old city.

   Similarancient, age-old, venerable, primeval

   Oppositenew, young, recent

   Note
9. 9
   adjective

   Describing slow, one-way changes over a very long time, such as in planets or magnetic fields.

   Like a clock that loses a tiny bit of time each year, drifting further and further off.

   Scientists tracked the secular change in the planet's orbit over centuries.

   Earth's magnetic field shows a slow secular drift.

   Similarlong-term

   Oppositeperiodic

   Note
10. 10
    adjective

    Staying the same over time without being disturbed.

    Like a still pond that does not ripple even as hours pass.

    Under these conditions the atom reaches a secular state that does not change over time.

    The signal settled into a secular pattern, steady and undisturbed.

    Note
11. 11
    nouncountable

    A church singer whose only job is to sing in the choir.

    Like a band member who only sings and never plays an instrument.

    The secular sang each morning but took no other part in the service.

    Only the priest, not the secular, could lead the prayers.

    Similarchorister

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