1
a
often capitalized
: the message concerning Christ, the kingdom of God, and salvation
b
capitalized
: one of the first four New Testament books telling of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ
also
: a similar apocryphal (see apocrypha sense 2) book
c
: an interpretation of the Christian message
the social gospel
2
capitalized
: a lection (see lection sense 1) from one of the New Testament Gospels
3
: the message or teachings of a religious teacher
4
: something accepted or promoted as infallible (see infallible sense 1) truth or as a guiding principle or doctrine
took her words as gospel
spreading the gospel of conservation—
R. M. Hodesh
R. M. Hodesh5
: gospel music
1
a
: having a basis in or being in accordance with the gospel (see gospel entry 1 sense 1) : evangelical
ordained to the gospel ministry—Christian Century
Christian Century
b
: marked by special or fervid emphasis on the gospel
a gospel meeting
2
: of, relating to, or being religious songs of American origin associated with evangelism and popular devotion and marked by simple melody and harmony and elements of folk songs and blues
Synonyms
Examples of gospel in a Sentence
Noun
a reading from the Gospel of St. John
her private gospel is to do good cheerfully and without any expectation of reward
Recent Examples on the WebLeif Wenar, WIRED, 2 Apr. 2024
Her singing is just as vivid and varied across the LP, with gutsy growls and breathy trills against multi-tracked harmony vocals that approximate the heavenly abundance of a gospel choir.
—Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2024
Surely, blues, soul, R&B, and gospel music pervaded my life growing up in the urban landscape of a very Black Memphis.
—Kimberly Bryant, Essence, 29 Mar. 2024
Since then, the Catholic Church–as well as adjacent Christian faiths–have certainly spread the gospel about eating fish at the end of the week, leading to a multitude of fish-and-chip shops in the U.K. and annual firehall dinners in the Midwest.
—Shane Mitchell, Saveur, 28 Mar. 2024
How did gospel, and your faith in general, manifest during the creation of Heavy?
—Kyle Denis, Billboard, 25 Mar. 2024
SiR’s music is at the cutting edge of soul and R&B, and is rooted in gospel.
—Meagan Jordan, Rolling Stone, 18 Mar. 2024
Billboard launched its Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, as well as genre-specific rankings for country, rock & alternative, R&B/hip-hop, R&B, rap, Latin, Christian, gospel and dance/electronic in June 2019.
—Xander Zellner, Billboard, 20 Mar. 2024
And for three hours every Sunday morning, Black gospel music blared through their home, introducing Giddens to amazing mass choirs and artists like Kirk Franklin.
—Janay Kingsberry, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2024
Jimmy Maher, Ars Technica, 15 Mar. 2020
Meanwhile in South Carolina, Booker's campaign has launched a new radio advertisement on eight urban contemporary and gospel radio stations across the state.
—Caitlin Conant, CBS News, 6 Dec. 2019
Large chunks of the film are made up of Cambridge Analytica sales decks, which the directors appear to take as gospel truth about how sophisticated and successful the company was.
—L.m., The Economist, 24 July 2019
Market prices, of course, are no more gospel truth than are the extrapolations of economists.
—James MacKintosh, WSJ, 30 July 2018
Gospel stage production about family's struggle with alcoholism and their journey back to God through faith, hope and love.
—Rasputin Todd, Cincinnati.com, 5 July 2017
Gospel singer Bebe Winans sings beautiful hymns; New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker joins her on stage.
—Capricia Marshall, Harper's BAZAAR, 15 Dec. 2016
Noun
Using a playbook from Silicon Valley, Özer began spreading the gospel of crypto around Turkey.
—Leif Wenar, WIRED, 2 Apr. 2024
Her singing is just as vivid and varied across the LP, with gutsy growls and breathy trills against multi-tracked harmony vocals that approximate the heavenly abundance of a gospel choir.
—Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2024
Surely, blues, soul, R&B, and gospel music pervaded my life growing up in the urban landscape of a very Black Memphis.
—Kimberly Bryant, Essence, 29 Mar. 2024
Since then, the Catholic Church–as well as adjacent Christian faiths–have certainly spread the gospel about eating fish at the end of the week, leading to a multitude of fish-and-chip shops in the U.K. and annual firehall dinners in the Midwest.
—Shane Mitchell, Saveur, 28 Mar. 2024
How did gospel, and your faith in general, manifest during the creation of Heavy?
—Kyle Denis, Billboard, 25 Mar. 2024
SiR’s music is at the cutting edge of soul and R&B, and is rooted in gospel.
—Meagan Jordan, Rolling Stone, 18 Mar. 2024
Billboard launched its Hot 100 Songwriters and Hot 100 Producers charts, as well as genre-specific rankings for country, rock & alternative, R&B/hip-hop, R&B, rap, Latin, Christian, gospel and dance/electronic in June 2019.
—Xander Zellner, Billboard, 20 Mar. 2024
And for three hours every Sunday morning, Black gospel music blared through their home, introducing Giddens to amazing mass choirs and artists like Kirk Franklin.
—Janay Kingsberry, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2024
Adjective
Smyth had gradually come to accept their theories too as gospel truth, and had incorporated them into his thesis.
—Jimmy Maher, Ars Technica, 15 Mar. 2020
Meanwhile in South Carolina, Booker's campaign has launched a new radio advertisement on eight urban contemporary and gospel radio stations across the state.
—Caitlin Conant, CBS News, 6 Dec. 2019
Large chunks of the film are made up of Cambridge Analytica sales decks, which the directors appear to take as gospel truth about how sophisticated and successful the company was.
—L.m., The Economist, 24 July 2019
Market prices, of course, are no more gospel truth than are the extrapolations of economists.
—James MacKintosh, WSJ, 30 July 2018
Gospel stage production about family's struggle with alcoholism and their journey back to God through faith, hope and love.
—Rasputin Todd, Cincinnati.com, 5 July 2017
Gospel singer Bebe Winans sings beautiful hymns; New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker joins her on stage.
—Capricia Marshall, Harper's BAZAAR, 15 Dec. 2016
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gospel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near gospel
Cite this Entry
“Gospel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gospel. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
gospel
1 of 2 noun
gos·pel
ˈgäs-pəl 
1
a
often capitalized
: the Christian message concerning Christ, the kingdom of God, and salvation
b
capitalized
: one of the first four New Testament books telling of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ
2
: something accepted as the truth or as a guiding principle
3
: gospel music
gospel
2 of 2 adjective1
: relating to or in accordance with the gospel : evangelical
2
: of or relating to religious songs associated with evangelism
a gospel singer
Etymology
Noun
Old English gōdspel, a translation of Greek euangelion "gospel," literally, "good tidings, good news"; gōdspel from gōd "good" and spell "talk, tale"
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share