How to Use clerical in a Sentence

clerical

adjective
  • The mistake was due to a clerical error.
  • She spent the summer doing clerical work for a lawyer.
  • This had to be a weird clerical mistake.
    — John McPhee, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
  • But a clerical error at the jail put him right back on the lam two days later.
    — Ben Brasch, Washington Post, 21 Sep. 2023
  • The people who lead them, this clerical regime, that is the problem.
    — Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 3 Apr. 2026
  • These were not clerical errors.
    — Michael Carbonara, Sun Sentinel, 21 Apr. 2026
  • Rasmussen was wearing her clerical robes and was thrown to the ground by a sheriff in plainclothes.
    — Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 26 Jan. 2026
  • In other words, some of those 110-year-olds might just be clerical errors.
    — Rachel MacPherson, Outside, 11 Jan. 2026
  • Sometimes the check box is wrong because of clerical errors, the researchers said.
    — Kavitha Surana, ProPublica, 27 July 2023
  • Since then, the protests have expanded into calls for the ouster of Iran’s clerical rulers.
    — Jack Jeffery, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Dec. 2022
  • To keep a law firm or a tailor or a tavern running, clerical tasks such as bookkeeping had to get done.
    — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 6 July 2022
  • In the most recent case, this was again not a clerical oversight or an isolated misstep.
    — Micah Kimball, Denver Post, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Her death unleashed a wave of unrest that has grown into calls for the downfall of Iran’s clerical rulers.
    — Jack Jeffery, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Dec. 2022
  • This echoes a time when the number of Black women in clerical roles was on the uptick, and the need for suits was rising, too.
    — Brooklyn White, Essence, 18 Nov. 2022
  • It was mistakenly set due to a clerical error.
    — Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 14 Jan. 2026
  • Iran has been called both a theocracy and a clerical oligarchy because of the power clerics hold.
    — Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 10 Mar. 2023
  • His dismissal from the clerical state may, therefore, be a matter of interest among the faithful.
    — Anders Hagstrom, Fox News, 18 Dec. 2022
  • Her death sparked a major uproar among the country's youth, who began rebelling against the ruling clerical regime.
    — Justin Klawans, The Week, 12 Dec. 2022
  • Any chance for new converts must hold appeal to a church with declining numbers and still under the cloud of clerical abuse scandals.
    — Joseph P. Laycock, The Conversation, 24 May 2022
  • He was initially arrested last year but the case was dismissed because of a clerical error.
    — Carol Robinson | [email protected], al, 15 June 2023
  • Our regions have long paid a heavy price, under both the shah and the clerical regime, for simply asserting our identity.
    — Jalil Pakray, Sun Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2026
  • Chung was an artist himself, who had a day job doing clerical work at a psychoanalyst’s office.
    — Zachary Small, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2024
  • Kashani began the decade as Mossadegh’s most important clerical ally.
    — Bobby Ghosh, Time, 5 Mar. 2026
  • But Antique’s filing arrived five hours late owing to a clerical error.
    — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 12 Sep. 2022
  • It’s found success among Iranians who aren’t as keen on the clerical government.
    — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Most elementary and middle schools were scheduled to be off for a clerical day, however.
    — Alexandra Olson and Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Anchorage Daily News, 9 June 2023
  • Second, the work must be substantive and supervised, not clerical.
    — Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Jackson was on the lam for months after he was mistakenly released from jail in April due to a clerical error.
    — Gregory Yeestaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 22 Dec. 2022
  • The unions include those for school clerical workers, plant and cafeteria managers, building trades and school police.
    — Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Its clerical rulers, who put down a mass uprising at the start of the year, have faced no sign of organized opposition since the war began.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 20 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'clerical.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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