clerical collar
noun
: a narrow stiffly upright white collar worn buttoned at the back of the neck by members of the clergy
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Bishop Zanchetta, wearing a dark suit, clerical collar and mask, mostly looked down as the verdict was read. 
Silvina Frydlewsky And Francis X. Rocca, WSJ, 4 Mar. 2022 Then, just before lunchtime, another worker emerges from a backroom, wearing a black sweater and clerical collar. Washington Post, 15 Oct. 2021 The chaplain, Lisa Loughlin of Common Cathedral, a 25-year-old outdoor ministry, wears her clerical collar under a North Face fleece and carries a backpack stuffed with sandwiches, socks, winter hats and gloves, and extra face masks. Jonathan D. Fitzgerald, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Mar. 2021 O’Donnell, who is 74 with hair as white as the clerical collar on his neck, is sitting in his office, flanked by his beloved Native American artwork, talking about his nearly half-century as a Catholic priest in the San Diego diocese. San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Dec. 2020 Austin-Young, the kind of minister often spotted in a clerical collar and a denim jacket, describes herself as somewhere left of the Democratic Party and a person deeply interested in politics. NBC News, 31 Oct. 2020 Father Paul rode shotgun, wearing his clerical collar and trademark fedora. New York Times, 7 Oct. 2020 They were joined, at times, by a pale Lutheran priest in his clerical collar and three young women from a youth group called EquiTeens Kenosha. Emily Witt, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2020 Wearing a clerical collar and vestments, Rev. Cheek performed Communion at Wendt’s church — the first time any female priest had conducted the sacrament in an Episcopal sanctuary. Matt Schudel, Washington Post, 5 Sep. 2019 See More
Silvina Frydlewsky And Francis X. Rocca, WSJ, 4 Mar. 2022 Then, just before lunchtime, another worker emerges from a backroom, wearing a black sweater and clerical collar. Washington Post, 15 Oct. 2021 The chaplain, Lisa Loughlin of Common Cathedral, a 25-year-old outdoor ministry, wears her clerical collar under a North Face fleece and carries a backpack stuffed with sandwiches, socks, winter hats and gloves, and extra face masks. Jonathan D. Fitzgerald, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Mar. 2021 O’Donnell, who is 74 with hair as white as the clerical collar on his neck, is sitting in his office, flanked by his beloved Native American artwork, talking about his nearly half-century as a Catholic priest in the San Diego diocese. San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Dec. 2020 Austin-Young, the kind of minister often spotted in a clerical collar and a denim jacket, describes herself as somewhere left of the Democratic Party and a person deeply interested in politics. NBC News, 31 Oct. 2020 Father Paul rode shotgun, wearing his clerical collar and trademark fedora. New York Times, 7 Oct. 2020 They were joined, at times, by a pale Lutheran priest in his clerical collar and three young women from a youth group called EquiTeens Kenosha. Emily Witt, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2020 Wearing a clerical collar and vestments, Rev. Cheek performed Communion at Wendt’s church — the first time any female priest had conducted the sacrament in an Episcopal sanctuary. Matt Schudel, Washington Post, 5 Sep. 2019 See More Word History
First Known Use
1948, in the meaning defined above