clerkling

C3L1E1R1K5L1I1N1G2
/ˈklɑɹk.lɪŋ/

noun

A young or insignificant clerk.

Scrabble 16

Meanings

nounclerkling (plural clerklings)

plural clerklings

  1. A young or insignificant clerk.

    Una stood with a hulking man pressing as close to her side as he dared, and a dapper clerkling squeezed against her breast.

    1917, Sinclair Lewis, The Job
    2 more examples

    Every Spaniard that spoke to him, whether clerkling or underling, was presented as a leading merchant, a marquis, or a count, while on the other hand any one who passed him by was a greenhorn, a petty official, a nobody!

    1912, Jose Rizal, The Reign of Greed

    A little after, he sent a lad, as he were the priest's clerkling that had confessed her, to the lady to ask if she wot of were come thither again.

    1886, Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), translated by John Payne (1842-1916), The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

clerkling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clerkling

MLA

“clerkling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clerkling. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clerkling,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clerkling.

Source: clerkling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.