“Secular” usually means non-religious – something that’s not connected to faith, worship, or spiritual authority.

Core meaning in everyday use

When people ask “what does secular mean,” they’re usually after this sense:

  • Not religious in content or purpose (secular music, secular education, secular holidays).
  • Related to ordinary, “this-worldly” life rather than spiritual concerns.
  • Connected to government or public institutions that are neutral toward all religions (a secular state, secular courts).

Example: A public school that does not promote any religion is secular , but a church-run school that teaches religious doctrine is not.

More precise dictionary sense

Dictionaries give a few related technical shades of meaning:

  • Of the physical world, not the spiritual world (“secular concerns,” like jobs, taxes, health).
  • Not overtly or specifically religious (“secular music,” “secular books”).
  • Of government rather than church (“secular courts,” “secular law”).
  • In church vocabulary: clergy who work “in the world” and are not monks are called “secular clergy.”

So, secular ≠ anti-religion by definition; it mainly means “not religious” or “religiously neutral,” especially in public life.

TL;DR: “Secular” means non-religious or religiously neutral – focused on everyday, worldly life or government, rather than on faith or worship.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.