as in temporal
not involving religion or religious matters
that's an issue for the secular authorities, not the church
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Recent Examples of secular
Sergy Odiduro, Miami Herald, 16 June 2026
The docudrama drew large crowds in France last year despite criticism from some secular and Catholic sources.
—ABC News, 10 June 2026
Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2023
His selection of works, for example, mixed the sacred with the secular, interspersing chorale preludes (which use Lutheran hymns as their point of departure) with the six trio sonatas for organ.
—Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for secular
Adjective
Butler Rahming also notes how gospel has shifted onto the mainstream stage with appearances on secular stages like Jazz in the Gardens, the annual Miami Gardens music festival.
—Sergy Odiduro, Miami Herald, 16 June 2026
The docudrama drew large crowds in France last year despite criticism from some secular and Catholic sources.
—ABC News, 10 June 2026
Noun
There was a change of heart among the secular nationalists during the second intifada—which started in 2000 and ended in 2005—in which seculars also joined forces.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2023
His selection of works, for example, mixed the sacred with the secular, interspersing chorale preludes (which use Lutheran hymns as their point of departure) with the six trio sonatas for organ.
—Luke Schulze, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for secular
Recent Examples of Synonyms for secular
Adjective
-
Though editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis (a Yorgos Lanthimos regular) cuts the film with brisk concision, there’s also a welcome temporal elasticity here — the sense that life can change in the blink of an eye, but also stall for undefined passages.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
19 June 2026
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The researchers fed this millennium-long data into a computer model to determine how much stress has built up along the faults in that temporal window.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
18 June 2026
Noun
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In the United States, the layman can do this any day of the week, especially Saturday, if the weather is nice.—
Caity Weaver,
The Atlantic,
12 June 2026
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What may shock the layman, though, is that all three of those schools also have strong baseball programs as well.—
Austin Perry OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
2 June 2026
Adjective
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Florida statutes creating the charter school framework also require those schools to be nonreligious.—
Gray Rohrer,
Sun Sentinel,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Republicans vow to appeal Arkansas ruling Last year, seven Arkansas families of various religious and nonreligious backgrounds filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s new law requiring all public elementary and secondary schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom and library.—
Sara Cline,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
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These creators are savvy online marketers who can dizzy a layperson with complex discussions of ROI, content stream diversification and fan-intake funnels.—
Gustavo Turner,
HollywoodReporter,
17 June 2026
-
Wilding’s evidence seems obvious in hindsight, even to a layperson.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
8 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Secular.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/secular. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
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