pas·to·ral
ˈpa-st(ə-)rəl 
nonstandard pa-ˈstȯr-əl
1
a(1)
: of, relating to, or composed of shepherds or herdsmen
a pastoral people, seminomadic in their habits—
J. M. Mogey
J. M. Mogey
(2)
: devoted to or based on livestock raising
a pastoral economy
b
: of or relating to the countryside : not urban
a pastoral setting
c
: portraying or expressive of the life of shepherds or country people especially in an idealized and conventionalized manner
pastoral poetry
a pastoral symphony
d
: pleasingly peaceful and innocent : idyllic
pastoral dreams were shattered by the year's round of … unwelcome visitors, ruinous floods and procrastinating workmen—Betty Fussell
Betty Fussell2
a
: of or relating to spiritual care or guidance especially of a congregation
pastoral counseling
b
: of or relating to the pastor of a church
pastoral duties
pastoralness
noun
pas·to·ral
ˈpa-st(ə-)rəl
-ˈral
sense 1d is often
ˌpa-stə-ˈräl
-ˈral
plural pastorals
1
a
: a literary work (such as a poem or play) dealing with shepherds or rural life in a usually artificial manner and typically drawing a contrast between the innocence and serenity of the simple life and the misery and corruption of city and especially court life
b
: pastoral poetry or drama
c
: a rural picture or scene
2
3
: a letter of a pastor to a charge: such as
a
: a letter addressed by a bishop to the bishop's diocese
b
: a letter of the house of bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church to be read in each parish
Examples of pastoral in a Sentence
Adjective
The house is situated in a charming pastoral setting.
Her favorite painting in the collection is a pastoral landscape.
The bishop outlined the church's views in a pastoral letter.
Recent Examples on the WebEric Adler, Kansas City Star, 28 Apr. 2024
We have been involved on our churches serve and pastoral care teams since 2017.
—Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Apr. 2024
The pastoral backcountry is an alloy of dust and juniper welded into a knobby expanse.
—Mare Czinar, The Arizona Republic, 18 Apr. 2024
Brous’s brother-in-law, a writer, offered his bungalow on the Fox lot to do her pastoral work.
—Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
Lawrence, who spent the day out with her family, paired an oversized navy blue hoodie with a pastoral white maxi skirt.
—Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 1 Apr. 2024
As with Rohrwacher’s previous movies, there is an exquisite blurring between the tangible and the ethereal, the urban and the pastoral, life and death, past and present — all of it overlapping with the same ease as the hues of a twilight sky.
—Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2024
But even in this incongruously pastoral setting, shortages cast a shadow.
—Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
Schmidt, the archdiocese's director of pastoral vitality, said abandoning that structure might seem appealing to some.
—Dan Horn, The Enquirer, 20 Mar. 2024
Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 23 Feb. 2024
Call it a pastoral, but its true theme is human connection.
—Sandhya Kambhampati, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2023
As in all pastorals, there is an element of fantasy in these serene depictions, which portray a world partly remembered from Constable’s childhood and partly invented from the conventions of art history, in this case the carefully balanced landscapes of Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain.
—Christopher Benfey, The New York Review of Books, 14 Sep. 2023
In Row’s vision of the Trump era, there is no American pastoral to return to, long for, or even to mourn; there is only the hope of escape and of freedom from illusions.
—Laura Tanenbaum, The New Republic, 17 May 2023
If nature is made secondary to human will, as in classical and Enlightenment times, then a care for nature expresses itself in bucolics and pastorals—nature as a setting for human amorousness or agriculture.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 20 Feb. 2023
But the unprovoked military invasion of the Russian army destroyed this pastoral.
—Yuriy Zaliznyak, ABC News, 7 Mar. 2023
The work is not a simple illustration but melds the personal with the fantastical, the pastoral with the profane.
—Dallas News, 13 Jan. 2022
Instead of an invasion, the archaeological evidence revealed a gradual evolution from a pastoral to an agricultural society.
—Pamela Weintraub, Discover Magazine, 1 Oct. 2015
Adjective
Designed as Sunflower Village by Kansas City landscape architects Hare & Hare, the district in 2014 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, not for its buildings, but for its layout as an example of the pastoral Garden City Movement.
—Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 28 Apr. 2024
We have been involved on our churches serve and pastoral care teams since 2017.
—Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Apr. 2024
The pastoral backcountry is an alloy of dust and juniper welded into a knobby expanse.
—Mare Czinar, The Arizona Republic, 18 Apr. 2024
Brous’s brother-in-law, a writer, offered his bungalow on the Fox lot to do her pastoral work.
—Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024
Lawrence, who spent the day out with her family, paired an oversized navy blue hoodie with a pastoral white maxi skirt.
—Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 1 Apr. 2024
As with Rohrwacher’s previous movies, there is an exquisite blurring between the tangible and the ethereal, the urban and the pastoral, life and death, past and present — all of it overlapping with the same ease as the hues of a twilight sky.
—Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2024
But even in this incongruously pastoral setting, shortages cast a shadow.
—Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
Schmidt, the archdiocese's director of pastoral vitality, said abandoning that structure might seem appealing to some.
—Dan Horn, The Enquirer, 20 Mar. 2024
Noun
Segarra’s voice has soft edges but a hard center, befitting songs in which outrage and pain simmer beneath the pastoral.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 23 Feb. 2024
Call it a pastoral, but its true theme is human connection.
—Sandhya Kambhampati, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2023
As in all pastorals, there is an element of fantasy in these serene depictions, which portray a world partly remembered from Constable’s childhood and partly invented from the conventions of art history, in this case the carefully balanced landscapes of Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain.
—Christopher Benfey, The New York Review of Books, 14 Sep. 2023
In Row’s vision of the Trump era, there is no American pastoral to return to, long for, or even to mourn; there is only the hope of escape and of freedom from illusions.
—Laura Tanenbaum, The New Republic, 17 May 2023
If nature is made secondary to human will, as in classical and Enlightenment times, then a care for nature expresses itself in bucolics and pastorals—nature as a setting for human amorousness or agriculture.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 20 Feb. 2023
But the unprovoked military invasion of the Russian army destroyed this pastoral.
—Yuriy Zaliznyak, ABC News, 7 Mar. 2023
The work is not a simple illustration but melds the personal with the fantastical, the pastoral with the profane.
—Dallas News, 13 Jan. 2022
Instead of an invasion, the archaeological evidence revealed a gradual evolution from a pastoral to an agricultural society.
—Pamela Weintraub, Discover Magazine, 1 Oct. 2015
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pastoral.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Dictionary Entries Near pastoral
Cite this Entry
“Pastoral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pastoral. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pastoral
1 of 2 adjective
pas·to·ral
ˈpas-t(ə-)rəl
1
a
: of or relating to shepherds or rural life
b
: devoted to or based on livestock raising
2
: of or relating to the pastor of a church
pastoral
2 of 2 noun
pas·to·ral
ˈpas-t(ə-)rəl,
sense 3 is often ˌpas-tə-ˈräl,
-ˈral
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