preach

verb

preached; preaching; preaches
Synonyms of preachnext

intransitive verb

1
: to deliver a sermon
2
: to urge acceptance or abandonment of an idea or course of action
specifically : to exhort in an officious or tiresome manner

transitive verb

1
: to set forth in a sermon
preach the gospel
2
: to advocate earnestly
preached revolution
My mother always preached the value/virtue of a good education.
3
: to deliver (something, such as a sermon) publicly
4
: to bring, put, or affect by preaching
preached the … Church out of debt …Amer. Guide Series: Va.
preachingly adverb

Examples of preach in a Sentence

Have you ever heard that minister preach? The minister preached to the congregation about the need for tolerance. His followers listened to him preach the gospel. The priest preached a regular sermon that Sunday. Their mother has always preached the value of a good education. Practice what you preach—don't smoke if you tell your children not to smoke. The mayor continues to preach about the need for patience. I don't like being preached at about how I should live my life.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But all along Visma’s medical and coaching staff were preaching that Vingegaard wouldn’t fully recover until the 2026 season. Chris Marshall-Bell, New York Times, 3 June 2026 The executives who preached job-hopping and the career coaches who built careers around hacking your way to more money were describing a market that genuinely rewarded those behaviors at a specific moment in time. Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 June 2026 That message, preaching unabashed ambition, seeped into everything, from books and podcasts to social media posts. Julia Korn, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026 There’s Mallory McMorrow, a moderate technocrat who preaches the virtues of reaching across the aisle and keeping her own party’s tent roomy. Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 29 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for preach

Word History

Etymology

Middle English prechen, from Anglo-French precher, from Late Latin praedicare, from Latin, to proclaim, make known, from prae- pre- + dicare to proclaim — more at diction

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of preach was in the 13th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Preach.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preach. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.

Kids Definition

preach

verb
1
a
: to deliver a sermon : utter publicly
b
: to set forth in a sermon
preach the gospel
2
: to urge publicly : advocate
preach brotherhood

More from Merriam-Webster on preach

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster