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Definition of homily
homilies
1 : a usually short sermon a priest delivering his homily
2 : a lecture or discourse on or of a moral theme
3 : an inspirational catchphrase; also : platitude
Indulge Your Inner Word Nerd
homily was our Word of the Day on 07/31/2016. Hear the podcast!
Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
Examples of homily in a Sentence
The priest gave a brief homily on forgiveness.
We had to listen to another one of his homilies about the value of public service.
a politician with a fondness for homily
Recent Examples of homily from the Web
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In someone else's hands, such an observation might feel like an off-the-shelf homily.
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Religious homilies and paranoid exhortations spill from television sets where cartoons of men trapped in endlessly whirring machines dance dishearteningly.
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A ceremony to bless the tartans and the families represented by the cloth follows a brief homily.
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An intermediate layer of flashbacks finds Offred, Moira and a class of future handmaids at a re-education center being indoctrinated, with homilies and a cattle prod, by Aunt Lydia (a coolly imperious Ann Dowd).
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In contrast, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a controversial 2006 homily that criticized Islam as a faith prone to violence and was roundly criticized by Muslims.
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During the Mass, the Gospel and the homily were in English, followed by an on-the-spot translation into North Slavey.
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Under normal circumstances, there is truth in these civic homilies.
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Pastor Moses Sangha and Pastor Richard Keller, a retired Methodist minister, will lead informal services that include singing, praying and a brief homily.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'homily'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Gather around for the history of homily. The story starts with ancient Greek homilos, meaning "crowd" or "assembly." Greeks used homilos to create the verb homilein ("to consort with" or "to address"), as well as the noun homilia ("conversation"). Latin speakers borrowed homilia, then passed it on to Anglo-French. By the time it crossed into Middle English, the spelling had shifted to omelie, but by the mid-16th century the term had regained its "h" and the "y" of the modern spelling was added.
Origin and Etymology of homily
Middle English omelie, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin homilia, from Late Greek, from Greek, conversation, discourse, from homilein to consort with, address, from homilos crowd, assembly; akin to Greek homos same — more at same
HOMILY Defined for English Language Learners
homily
playDefinition of homily for English Language Learners
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: a usually short talk on a religious or moral topic
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: advice that is often not wanted
Learn More about homily
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for homily Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about homily
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