evangelist

noun

evan·​ge·​list i-ˈvan-jə-list How to pronounce evangelist (audio)
1
often capitalized : a writer of any of the four Gospels
2
: a person who evangelizes
specifically : a Protestant minister or layman who preaches at special services
3
: an enthusiastic advocate
an evangelist for physical fitness

Examples of evangelist in a Sentence

an evangelist of space exploration
Recent Examples on the Web Focus on giving these potential brand evangelists the best your new company has to offer. Harry Kabadaian, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023 Seo, 57, who describes himself as a cat bond evangelist, has a PhD in biophysics from Harvard and a physics degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. David J. Lynch, Washington Post, 29 Aug. 2023 The guest evangelist will be the Rev. Stanley Blair Sr., pastor of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church at Moscow. Arkansas Online, 1 Nov. 2023 Opinions poured in from the mainstream media, evangelist groups who believe Burning Man is an evil pagan cult, and slacktivist randos who suddenly cared a lot about carbon output. Hazlitt, 1 Nov. 2023 In the years to come, Gore made targeted criticisms of the Bush Administration—particularly of the war in Iraq—and became a kind of evangelist on the issue of climate change. David Remnick, The New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2023 But in parts of Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East, crypto had other uses, which look a lot more like those its early evangelists used to pitch. WIRED, 29 Sep. 2023 In an essay, King wrote about a guest evangelist speaking at their Sunday School and inviting children to join the church. Alex Sundby, CBS News, 29 June 2023 Kurzweil’s 2005 book, The Singularity Is Near, had established him as the chief evangelist of the coming Techno Rapture, when man and machine essentially become one. David Kushner, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'evangelist.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of evangelist was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near evangelist

Cite this Entry

“Evangelist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evangelist. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

evangelist

noun
evan·​ge·​list i-ˈvan-jə-ləst How to pronounce evangelist (audio)
: a Christian preacher who goes about from place to place trying to change or increase people's religious feelings
Etymology

Middle English evangelist "one of the writers of the four Gospels," from early French and Latin evangelista (same meaning), from Greek euangelizein "to preach the gospel," from euangelion "good news, gospel," from eu- "good" and angelos "messenger, angel"

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