preacher

noun

preach·​er ˈprē-chər 

plural preachers

: one who preaches: such as

a

: a person who delivers a sermon publicly

a street preacher

b

: one whose function is to preach sermons : pastor, minister

She waited patiently on a Sunday morning until the crowd had said good-by to the preacher.

—Don Jeffries

"What kind of preacher are you? What denomination?" "I was ordained in a Baptist church, but I'm sort of nondenominational now."

—John Grisham

c

: one who inculcates or exhorts something earnestly or officiously

… he was an ardent preacher of gentlemanly ethics …

—Paul Schullery

… he was perceived by the larger world, not inaccurately, as a preacher of the hatred.

—Nicholas Lemann

Synonyms of preacher

• priest
• clergyman
• pastor
• minister
• reverend

Examples of preacher in a Sentence

the marriage will be performed by our usual preacher

Recent Examples on the Web

Smart’s kidnapper was Brian David Mitchell, a street preacher her family met downtown and hired for odd jobs around the home. —Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026

Anderson was halfway through writing what would be his next project, a story of an oil man locked in a power struggle with a preacher in the early part of the 20th century. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 22 Jan. 2026

Smart was 14 when street preacher Brian David Mitchell, then 48, crept into her bedroom in the middle of the night on June 5, 2002, and abducted her at knifepoint. —Kc Baker, PEOPLE, 18 Jan. 2026

King’s ability to take ideas from White preachers’ bland sermons and convert them to stirring oratory was part of his genius, Miller says. —John Blake, CNN Money, 18 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for preacher

• bleacher
• creature
• feature
• reacher
• teacher
• schoolteacher

Kids Definition

preacher

noun

preach·​er

ˈprē-chər

: one that preaches

especially : minister entry 1 sense 1b