1
: one who delivers an oration
The orator delivered the funeral oration at the cathedral.
2
: one distinguished for skill and power as a public speaker
… is a masterly orator, able to reduce a throng of thousands to a hushed silence …—
Raymond Bonner
Raymond BonnerExamples of orator in a Sentence
though a brilliant wordsmith, Thomas Jefferson was by his own admission an unskilled orator
Recent Examples on the Web
The Indiana Klan peaked under Stephenson, who was known as a spellbinding orator.
—Alexandria Burris, IndyStar, 17 Nov. 2025
In Millard’s telling, Garfield truly was a potential successor to Lincoln, a great orator and sturdy Midwesterner who abhorred slavery and spoke to the country’s highest ideals.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2025
Mario Cuomo, the soaring orator and three-term governor, embodied the liberal conscience of the 1980s.
—Nik Popli, Time, 5 Nov. 2025
Once freed from slavery, Washington toiled in coal mines, worked as a janitor in exchange for formal education and became a great American orator and leader of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
—Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica, 22 Oct. 2025
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Alexandria Burris, IndyStar, 17 Nov. 2025
In Millard’s telling, Garfield truly was a potential successor to Lincoln, a great orator and sturdy Midwesterner who abhorred slavery and spoke to the country’s highest ideals.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2025
Mario Cuomo, the soaring orator and three-term governor, embodied the liberal conscience of the 1980s.
—Nik Popli, Time, 5 Nov. 2025
Once freed from slavery, Washington toiled in coal mines, worked as a janitor in exchange for formal education and became a great American orator and leader of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
—Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublica, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for orator
Cite this Entry
“Orator.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orator. Accessed 5 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
orator
noun
or·a·tor
ˈȯr-ət-ər 
ˈär-
: a public speaker noted for skill and power in speaking
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