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

Nothing says your Southern Mama failed in raising you like a bunch of tacky nonsense coming out of your mouth, especially in front of the preacher's wife. —Valerie Fraser Luesse, Southern Living, 17 Oct. 2024

You can almost be demonized for it because under the church environment—I’m a preacher’s kid–it’s not talked about. —Jasmine Browley, Essence, 6 Oct. 2024

Recent shift Since becoming the Democratic nominee, Harris has garnered a wellspring of support from Black faith leaders, including influential Black preachers who either remain in or came up in the Pentecostal or charismatic congregations. —Dara Delgado, The Conversation, 3 Oct. 2024

The descendent of a long line of preachers, Ellis once sought to counteract the stutter, to bend their voice into more normative patterns. —Wren Sanders, Them, 27 Sep. 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