The role or office of a priest. / Priests as a group; the clergy. / Authority to act in the name of God or the divine in general.

plural of priesthood

(politics, derogatory) The constellation of technocrats, columnists, pundits, university professors, public intellectuals, business lobbyists and other powerful groups who benefit from the political status quo and use their position to defend and support it.

plural of bought priesthood

An unorganized group of American domestic terrorists who follow a far-right, white supremacist, and Christian fundamentalist ideology.