1
as in rural
of, relating to, associated with, or typical of open areas with few buildings or people
painted a pastoral scene of a flower-filled meadow
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ministerial
of, relating to, or characteristic of the clergy
pastoral advice to a young couple preparing to marry
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in pastorale
Related Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of pastoral
Adam Harrington,
CBS News,
15 June 2026
Wood beam ceilings and rustic red tile floors adorn almost every room, while the furnishings rely on simple silhouettes and an earthy color palette to blend with the pastoral surroundings without feeling antiquated.
—
Lauren Arzbaecher,
Architectural Digest,
12 June 2026
Craig Morgan Teicher,
Literary Hub,
1 June 2026
The pastoral was required reading in military academies.
—
Gerard F. Powers,
The Conversation,
11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for pastoral
Adjective
The sheep both kept the grass cut and brought some pastoral beauty to gritty, industrial Chicago.
—
Adam Harrington,
CBS News,
15 June 2026
Wood beam ceilings and rustic red tile floors adorn almost every room, while the furnishings rely on simple silhouettes and an earthy color palette to blend with the pastoral surroundings without feeling antiquated.
—
Lauren Arzbaecher,
Architectural Digest,
12 June 2026
Noun
The broken family opens into a kind of broken pastoral, but there’s more than that.
—
Craig Morgan Teicher,
Literary Hub,
1 June 2026
The pastoral was required reading in military academies.
—
Gerard F. Powers,
The Conversation,
11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for pastoral
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pastoral
Adjective
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Their bodies were found weeks later, buried in an earthen dam in a rural area of Neshoba County.
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For the elderly voters with mobility issues who now are required to register in-person, the working-class parent who has to shell out $165 for a passport or the rural voter who must drive multiple towns over to provide proof of citizenship — this bill impacts them.
Adjective
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Yet the latest prime ministerial switch raises a fundamental question not just for Britain’s political future, but for that of other major European countries such as France and Germany.
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Under the agreement, at least four ministerial posts will change hands, but major strategies are expected to remain the same.
Noun
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This Robinson Crusoe-esque idyll delivers so much more than the standard palm tree escapism, with a 39-room wellness complex that's a match for anywhere in Europe or Asia.
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This pre-summer idyll could not have been more different from the setting in which the Quartet was first heard.
Noun
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Ashura processions are usually dramatic affairs, with chanters singing elegies or dirges dedicated to Hussein, while audience members beat their chests and engage in displays of mourning.
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The film uses one man’s late life as an elegy for a disappearing Canarian way of being, its rituals, its rootedness, its relationship to the land.
Noun
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Take The Music Lesson, a study of a young woman playing the virginal, closely watched by a gentleman, which Graham-Dixon reads as a depiction of Collegiants chastely performing and singing psalms.
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Over the course of Gregory Orr’s long career, his poems have become increasingly incantatory, more and more like chants or psalms, repeating, reformulating, reaching for the edges of the same rich metaphors.
Noun
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The Spiritual Sound Marc-André Hamelin, Found Objects / Sound Objects The Beths, Straight Line Was a Lie A year like no other, my 2025 in music was filled with joyous arias and madrigals of melancholy.
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This is a lovely fundraiser to assist in the preservation of the cemetery, and the day is filled with master gardeners offering advice, madrigals singing, an archaeology talk, refreshments, kids’ activities and lots of lovely spring plants for sale.
Noun
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An epic with supernatural and epigenetic overtones, this debut novel looks like a feast of a story.
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The Odyssey stars Matt Damon and John Leguizamo attend a photocall for the upcoming Christoper Nolan epic in Miami on June 26.
Noun
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But Van Sant’s imaginative and deeply poignant retelling of Shakespeare’s Henry IV is a pleasure in its own right, its sweetness and gentle touches of surrealism coming together to form a heartbreaking ode to young love.
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The Montblanc Collection is a fantastic ode to the label’s heritage, but a warming and wintry one by and large (leather, patchouli, oud, incense).
Cite this Entry
“Pastoral.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pastoral. Accessed 4 Jul. 2026.
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