1. Of communal life sequestered from the world under religious vows
   "The monastic atmosphere of the monastery provided a peaceful retreat from modern life";
   - cloistered, cloistral, conventual, monastical

1. A male religious living in a cloister and devoting himself to contemplation and prayer and work
   "The monastic spent hours each day in silent meditation";
   - monk

Derived forms: monastics

See also: unworldly

Type of: religious

Encyclopedia: Monastic