Definition of popish in English:

adjective

• Roman Catholic.

  Example sentences

  • ‘Those accusing him in his trial, however, proved themselves comparatively ignorant of popish doctrine and appeared foolish against Latimer's defence.’
  • ‘This was sensible enough in a Britain which still subliminally linked civil liberty with Protestantism, and therefore regarded Irishness as a likely pointer to popish subversion of its political values.’
  • ‘Finally, there was a pair of crotchety knights, Sir William Fawnt and the popish recusant Sir Henry Shirley, who sought to bring down Huntingdon by levying false charges of fraud against him.’
  • ‘Attempts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to adopt the new calendar had broken on the rock of the Church of England, which denounced it as popish.’
  • ‘The Covenanters, for instance, fought to rid Scotland of what they feared were popish influences.’
  • ‘For the time being, however, he read a statement from Sellon which threw some light on the stories of all three girls: the worship and religious customs of the house, she argued, were certainly not popish.’
  • ‘He boldly advanced the truth that believers should live by the Word of God and jettison popish superstitions.’
  • ‘Surely this can be read as Jonson's way of protesting his innocence in the whole Powder treason and the charges of seducing youth to popish religion.’
  • ‘The last Scottish coronation, that of Charles II in 1651, was a hasty business in the midst of adversity: Charles was required to swear to the covenant, and anointing was dropped as a superstitious and popish practice.’
  • ‘Religious bigots have branded her an example of popish excess - a whore and perhaps a murderess.’
  • ‘This outlandish-seeming conspiracy theory, Bellany argues, was plausible to many contemporaries, including the prosecutor Sir Edward Coke, because it tapped into deeply felt pre-existing fears about the likelihood of popish plots.’
  • ‘Because of their popish associations he also objected to the traditional episcopal vestments.’
  • ‘This kept alive the paranoia about popish plots that had been so damaging in the 1640s.’
  • ‘He was suspected of recusancy, and in 1569 and 1570 was charged with possessing popish and dangerous writings; he was examined before the ecclesiastical commission, but escaped without punishment.’