preacher

noun

preach·​er ˈprē-chər 

plural preachers

: one who preaches: such as

a

: a person who delivers a sermon publicly

a street preacher

b

: one whose function is to preach sermons : pastor, minister

She waited patiently on a Sunday morning until the crowd had said good-by to the preacher.

—Don Jeffries

"What kind of preacher are you? What denomination?" "I was ordained in a Baptist church, but I'm sort of nondenominational now."

—John Grisham

c

: one who inculcates or exhorts something earnestly or officiously

… he was an ardent preacher of gentlemanly ethics …

—Paul Schullery

… he was perceived by the larger world, not inaccurately, as a preacher of the hatred.

—Nicholas Lemann

Synonyms

• clergyperson
• cleric
• clerical
• clerk
• deacon
• divine
• dominie
• ecclesiastic
• minister
• priest
• reverend

Examples of preacher in a Sentence

the marriage will be performed by our usual preacher

Recent Examples on the Web

Unwilling to let the hate go unchallenged, May and Saint decided to kiss in front of the hate preachers and have their friend, Alie Strehl (@potatecreates on Instagram), take a photo. —David Faris, Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2024

The phone rings, the subway busker hollers, the preacher sermonizes, the garbage truck backs up, the microwave announces that dinner is hot — and every one of those ordinary acoustic events, boosted by digital technology, clamors for our attention, mostly with little success. —Justin Davidson, Curbed, 16 Oct. 2024

One popular theory over the years claimed that Rev. Lyn George Jacklin Kelly, who was a traveling preacher passing through Villisca at the time, might have committed the crime. —Julie Jordan, People.com, 15 Oct. 2024

Hull claimed the hoax was inspired by an argument with a preacher in Iowa. —Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 7 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

preacher

noun

preach·​er

ˈprē-chər

: one that preaches

especially : minister entry 1 sense 1b