often capitalized
1
: the prayer leader of a mosque
2
: a Muslim leader of the line of Ali held by Shiites to be the divinely appointed, sinless, infallible successors of Muhammad
3
: any of various rulers that claim descent from Muhammad and exercise spiritual and temporal leadership over a Muslim region
Examples of imam in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Friday prayers Many imams, during Friday prayers, stressed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s message from Thursday that the war had been a victory for Iran.
—
David Rising, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2025
Omar Hussein, the mosque's muezzin and deputy imam, said his father was lightly injured in the blast and taken to the hospital.
—Amanda Castro
peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 June 2025
The adjacent Nizwa Castle traces back to the 9th century and was expanded by ruling imams (religious and political leaders) in the centuries since and renovated in the 1990s.
—Natasha Amar, Forbes.com, 11 May 2025
In Cairo, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the seat of Sunni learning who forged a close bond with Francis, wished him well.
—Nicole Winfield, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for imam
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David Rising, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2025
Omar Hussein, the mosque's muezzin and deputy imam, said his father was lightly injured in the blast and taken to the hospital.
—Amanda Castro
peter Aitken, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 June 2025
The adjacent Nizwa Castle traces back to the 9th century and was expanded by ruling imams (religious and political leaders) in the centuries since and renovated in the 1990s.
—Natasha Amar, Forbes.com, 11 May 2025
In Cairo, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, the seat of Sunni learning who forged a close bond with Francis, wished him well.
—Nicole Winfield, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for imam
Cite this Entry
“Imam.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/imam. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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