missionary

1 of 2

noun

mis·​sion·​ary ˈmi-shə-ˌner-ē 

plural missionaries

: a person undertaking a mission and especially a religious mission

Several years ago, when I was working as a reporter based in Haiti, I came upon a group of older Christian missionaries in the mountains above Port-au-Prince … They were there to build a school alongside a Methodist church.

—Jacob Kushner

Hawaiian Pidgin English developed during the 1800s and early 1900s, when immigrant laborers from China, Portugal, and the Philippines arrived to work in the plantations; American missionaries also came around that time.

—Alia Wong

missionary

2 of 2

adjective

1

: relating to, engaged in, or devoted to missions

2

: characteristic of a missionary

… I continue … revealing with missionary zeal the wonders of quilted art.

—Joan V. Parker

Did you know?

Beginning around 1540, an order of Catholic priests known as the Jesuits began to send its members to many parts of the world to convert peoples who believed in other gods to Christianity. Wherever they went, the Catholic missionaries built central buildings for their religious work, and the buildings themselves became known as missions; many 17th-century missions in the American West and Southwest are now preserved as museums. Their foes, the Protestants, soon began sending out their own missionaries, and today Protestant missionaries are probably far more numerous.

Examples of missionary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

So thoroughly did European missionaries stigmatize Inuit beliefs that, even now, the more pious members of an older generation consider an appreciation of Indigenous spirits to be a sign of something demonic afoot. —Dawn Chan, New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2025

Relief supplies intended to aid Jamaicans devastated by Hurricane Melissa may have contributed to the cause of a Coral Springs plane crash that killed the two humanitarian missionaries organizing the goodwill effort, a new preliminary report revealed Wednesday. —Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 4 Dec. 2025

Adjective

Aid now flows according to a worldview that is part-mercantilist, part-missionary, and wholly transactional. —Bright Simons, semafor.com, 8 Dec. 2025

The Ellinikon Marina, also named Agios Kosmas in honor of 18th-century monk and missionary Saint Kosmas, will help cement the ancient city as one of Europe’s premier yachting destinations. —Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 26 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1623, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1644, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing missionary

• missionary position
• missionary zeal

Rhymes for missionary

• accessary
• adversary
• ancillary
• arbitrary
• aviary
• axillary
• beriberi
• breviary
• budgetary
• capillary
• catenary
• cautionary

Kids Definition

missionary

1 of 2 adjective

mis·​sion·​ary ˈmish-ə-ˌner-ē 

1

: relating to, engaged in, or devoted to missions

2

: characteristic of a missionary : zealous

missionary

2 of 2 noun

plural missionaries

: one sent to spread a religious faith among unbelievers or to engage in charitable work with religious support