pastoral

adjective pas·to·ral \ ˈpa-st(ə-)rəl , nonstandard pa-ˈstȯr-əl \

|Updated on: 18 Jun 2018

Examples: pastoral in a Sentence

Definition of pastoral

1 a (1) : of, relating to, or composed of shepherds or herdsmen

a pastoral people, seminomadic in their habits
—J. M. Mogey

(2) : devoted to or based on livestock raising

a pastoral economy

b : of or relating to the countryside : not urban

a pastoral setting

c : portraying or expressive of the life of shepherds or country people especially in an idealized and conventionalized manner

pastoral poetry

a pastoral symphony

d : pleasingly peaceful and innocent : idyllic

pastoral dreams were shattered by the year's round of … unwelcome visitors, ruinous floods and procrastinating workmen
—Betty Fussell

2 a : of or relating to spiritual care or guidance especially of a congregation

pastoral counseling

b : of or relating to the pastor of a church

pastoral duties

—

pastorally

play \ˈpa-st(ə-)rə-lē\ adverb

—

pastoralness

noun

See pastoral defined for English-language learners

See pastoral defined for kids

Examples of pastoral in a Sentence

The house is situated in a charming pastoral setting.
Her favorite painting in the collection is a pastoral landscape.
The bishop outlined the church's views in a pastoral letter.

Recent Examples of pastoral from the Web

Seventy-two young women graduated on Sunday from The Ethel Walker School, the elite day and boarding school for girls nestled on 175 pastoral acres in Simsbury.

— matthew ormseth, courant.com, "The Ethel Walker School Mints 72 New Graduates; Speaker Urges Them To 'Find Your Crew'," 10 June 2018
The meeting’s goal is to address the ministerial, pastoral, evangelization and liturgical needs of black Catholics.

— elaine ayala, San Antonio Express-News, "Black Catholics conference meeting in S.A. this weekend," 8 June 2018
Its name, borrowed from a novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry set at the dawn of commercial aviation, translates to Night Flight, suggesting, along with the Trappist ales on offer, a red-eye into a land of pastoral retreat and deep history.

— neima jahromi, The New Yorker, "Seeking a Continental Illusion at Vol de Nuit," 8 June 2018
The original had been a pastoral and sweet telling of a fable set in the French Antilles of Ti Moune, a poor young orphan who tragically falls in love with a rich aristocrat of a lighter skin color.

— patrick pacheco, latimes.com, "Michael Arden, making waves with the little musical that could, 'Once on This Island'," 7 June 2018
Pope Francis has asked his envoy to a Bosnian shrine to stay on the job indefinitely to provide pastoral support to the millions of Catholics drawn there by reports of apparitions of the Virgin Mary.

— Fox News, "Pope extends, expands mission of envoy to Medjugorje shrine," 1 June 2018
That was followed by the funerals in the city of Holguín of several pastoral couples from the Church of the Nazarene, an Evangelical church with 137 temples around the island.

— nora gámez torres, miamiherald, "68 of its residents were killed in Cuba plane crash. Now Holguín is filled with grief | Miami Herald," 26 May 2018
Marin’s sprawling space-age-slash-pastoral civic center, located in just off Hwy 101 in San Rafael, is a destination unto itself.

— San Francisco Chronicle, "The best way to tour the Marin County Civic Center," 16 May 2018
Ryan has said he was dissatisfied with Conroy's pastoral care to lawmakers.

— andrew taylor, Fox News, "House chaplain regains job after challenging Ryan," 4 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pastoral.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of pastoral

Middle English, from Latin pastoralis, from pastor herdsman

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

See Words from the same year

pastoral Synonyms

Other Animal Husbandry Terms

apiary, bantam, calico, girth, hogwash, mast, rut

pastoral

noun \ ˈpa-st(ə-)rəl ; sense 1d is often ˌpa-stə-ˈräl , -ˈral \

Definition of pastoral

1 a : a literary work (such as a poem or play) dealing with shepherds or rural life in a usually artificial manner and typically drawing a contrast between the innocence and serenity of the simple life and the misery and corruption of city and especially court life

b : pastoral poetry or drama

c : a rural picture or scene

d : pastorale 1a

2 : crosier 1

3 : a letter of a pastor to his charge: such as

a : a letter addressed by a bishop to his diocese

b : a letter of the house of bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church to be read in each parish

Recent Examples of pastoral from the Web

However, Hamilton's Thomas Kail lost out in the best directing race to Sam Mendes for Jez Butterworth's modern Irish pastoral, The Ferryman, which is scheduled to transfer to Broadway in the fall.

— alex ritman, The Hollywood Reporter, "The Olivier Awards 2018: Full List of Winners," 8 Apr. 2018
The result is something that is looser and more open-ended, less hard science fiction than a dreamy kind of science pastoral, albeit one populated with mutant crocodiles.

— george pendle, Esquire, "Alex Garland Mutated Annihilation Into a Psychedelic Sci-Fi Horror," 21 Feb. 2018
Ashbery chose fractured pastoral; Rich extracted metaphors from geology, archaeology, astronomy and biology.

— wayne koestenbaum, New York Times, "Book Review Newsletter," 15 July 2016

Origin and Etymology of pastoral

see ¹pastoral

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1584

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

PASTORAL Defined for English Language Learners

pastoral

adjective

Definition of pastoral for English Language Learners

: of or relating to the countryside or to the lives of people who live in the country
: of or relating to the spiritual care or guidance of people who are members of a religious group
: of or relating to the pastor of a church