high priest
noun1
Lifestyle, Religion A clergyman with a higher function than a normal priest.
2
In the Bible, the male individual who was responsible for making the annual sacrifice on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur); always a descendant of Aaron, the older brother of Moses. See Kohen Gadol.
3
Christianity Jesus Christ.
4
Mormonism The second-lowest office in the Melchizedek priesthood.
- Jake was ordained a high priest when he was called to be a counselor in a bishopric.
5
Figuratively A person holding a position of power or influence; an authority in a field of study, doctrine, art or a movement.
- The global economic collapse of 2007-2008 discredited “rational expectations” economics (though its high priests have yet to recognize this) and brought both Keynes and Hayek back into posthumous contention.2011, Robert Skidelsky, The Keynes-Hayek Rematch:
- He perorated in a distinctly disturbed, and disturbing, manner, at least for a CIA high priest: “Technology is moving faster than government or law can keep up. It’s moving faster … than you can keep up: you should be asking the question of what are your rights and who owns your data.”2019 September 17, Edward Snowden, Permanent Record, New York, N.Y.: Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN:
1 more example
- The high priest of US arms controllers2020 June 23, John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 172:
- Synonyms
- abbot, archbishop, godi, head priest, chief priest, Kohen Gadol, Jewish high priest, mahant, volkhv
- Derived terms
- highpriesthood, high-priestly, highpriestly, highpriestship
- Related terms
- high church, High Mass
- Coordinate terms
- high priestess