as in missioner
a person who is sent especially to a foreign country to do religious work (such as converting people to the religion or ministering to the sick)
The missionaries sent to the island were ultimately unsuccessful in converting the native residents.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in apostolic
relating to missionaries or their work
The church organizes missionary trips to a variety of countries.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of missionary
Jonathan Bullington, Chicago Tribune, 5 Jan. 2025
But the two young missionaries are then forced to prove their faith by becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse with Reed.
—Lynette Rice, Deadline, 15 Dec. 2024
Laura Begley Bloom, Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024
Mission to the World, or the PCA’s missionary agency that Young and her husband served with, received a similar request.
—Liam Adams, The Tennessean, 18 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for missionary 
Noun
Around that same time, Priscilla Baltimore and Bishop William Paul Quinn, an African Methodist Episcopal missionary, established the town’s AME church, which along with a Baptist church and a number of homes, served as stops in the Underground Railroad.
—Jonathan Bullington, Chicago Tribune, 5 Jan. 2025
But the two young missionaries are then forced to prove their faith by becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse with Reed.
—Lynette Rice, Deadline, 15 Dec. 2024
Adjective
Originally from Eleuthera, Taylor felt a spiritual calling to return to the island after years of missionary work and life in Nassau.
—Laura Begley Bloom, Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024
Mission to the World, or the PCA’s missionary agency that Young and her husband served with, received a similar request.
—Liam Adams, The Tennessean, 18 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for missionary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for missionary
Noun
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Kelley Hudlow, missioner for clergy formation for the diocese, told NBC affiliate WVTM of Birmingham soon after the shooting that church leaders were trying to learn more.—
Phil Helsel,
NBC News,
17 June 2022
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Eby will continue to serve as outreach missioner at the Church of the Nativity and as priest-in-charge at St. Timothy’s Church in Athens.—
al,
al,
1 Dec. 2020
Adjective
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In 2018, on her 110th birthday, Lucas, who is also the oldest living nun in the world, was honored with an apostolic blessing from Pope Francis, per Guinness World Records.—
Ingrid Vasquez,
People.com,
7 Jan. 2025
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Pope Francis's stop in East Timor is part of his ongoing apostolic journey across four countries between Sept. 2 and Sept. 13.—
Timothy H.J. Nerozzi Fox News,
Fox News,
10 Sep. 2024
Noun
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Despite the removal of troops from Afghanistan, something that had been promised by successive presidents before him, by voters for errors in the withdrawal, which included the deaths of 13 U.S. soldiers.—
Theo Burman,
Newsweek,
20 Jan. 2025
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The pair later spent nearly half an hour in Section 60, the burial site for military personnel killed while fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, talking with families of soldiers who died in the 2021 Kabul airport bombing.—
WILL WEISSERT,
arkansasonline.com,
20 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Some suggested on social media that the way Trump handled his swearing-in, so to speak, was a slap in the face to evangelical Christians who have so staunchly supported Trump.—
Josh Meyer,
USA TODAY,
20 Jan. 2025
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Bible scholar Peter Altmann of the evangelical Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., says comparing a president to any biblical figure involved in such a slaughter raises concerns for him.—
Jason DeRose,
NPR,
20 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Copyright law doesn’t protect general ideas — or incidents, characters and settings considered standard in the treatment of particular topics (think a priest in a movie about possession) — only the particular expression of those ideas.—
Winston Cho,
The Hollywood Reporter,
27 Jan. 2025
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The ‘20s house guests mingle with priests and nuns from the house’s church days and the souls of her mother and father, who each died inside.—
Nicolas Rivero,
Miami Herald,
26 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The Uttar Pradesh state, headed by Adityanath — a powerful Hindu monk and a popular hard-line Hindu politician in Modi’s party — has allocated more than $765 million for this year’s event.—
Sheikh Saaliq,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Jan. 2025
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You’re meant to start along the edges and proceed clockwise, passing the pictures of monks, deities, or patrons in their neat squares.—
Jackson Arn,
The New Yorker,
2 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near missionary
Cite this Entry
“Missionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/missionary. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.
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