churchlike

English

Etymology

From church +‎ -like. Compare Scots kirklyk, kirklike (“ecclesiastical”).

Adjective

churchlike (comparative more churchlike, superlative most churchlike)

1. Resembling or befitting a church or a worship service.

   Synonyms: churchical, churchly, churchy, ecclesiastical

   • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, chapter 5, in Jane Eyre‎^[1]:

     The new part, containing the schoolroom and dormitory, was lit by mullioned and latticed windows, which gave it a church-like aspect […]

   • 1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 13, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‎^[2], New York: Bantam, published 1971, page 69:

     The court was filled. Some people even stood behind the churchlike benches in the rear.

   • 2009 January 29, Cintra Wilson, “These Jewels Look Smaller in France”, in New York Times‎^[3]:

     This is […] a break with the practice at American diamond stores, where shopping for engagement rings is a solemnized and somewhat stressfully churchlike experience of awe and trembling before the altar of massive debt.

Derived terms

• unchurchlike