Word.ws English Dictionary

popeling

popeling noun: a deputy or petty pope.

Noun

popeling (plural popelings)

  1. A deputy or petty pope.
  2. (derogatory, often) An adherent of the pope.
    • He takes his vantage on religion, / To plant the Pope and popelings in the realm1593, Christopher Marlowe, The Massacre at Paris
    • And idolatrous parents hovv carefull they are to nuzzle vp their Poſterity in Superſtition and Idolatry; I vvould our profeſt Popelings, and halfe-baked Proteſtants, did not let vs ſee but too often.1621 June 29 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar), Robert Saunderson [i.e., Robert Sanderson], “The Third Sermon. At Grantham Linc[olnshire] 19. Jun. 1621.”, in Twelve Sermons, […], [new] edition...

Forms of popeling

pluralpopelings
alternative formPopeling

Origin of popeling

From pope + -ling.

Questions about popeling

What does popeling mean?
Popeling means a deputy or petty pope.
What part of speech is popeling?
Popeling is a noun.
What is the plural of popeling?
The plural of popeling is popelings.

Words near popeling in the dictionary

  1. Popeks
  2. popeless
  3. popelike
  4. popeline
  5. popelines
  6. popeling
  7. popelings
  8. Popell
  9. Popells
  10. popely
  11. popemobile

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: popeling (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “popeling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/popeling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.