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

• clergyperson
• cleric
• clerical
• clerk
• deacon
• divine
• dominie
• ecclesiastic
• minister
• priest
• reverend

Examples of preacher in a Sentence

the marriage will be performed by our usual preacher

Recent Examples on the Web

Between Paul Dano’s opportunistic preacher and the plumes of oil and fire that shoot out from the Earth that Plainview claims for himself, the whole film begins to assume a biblical fervor, the drama’s natural gravitas twisting into something vaguely apocalyptic. —Indiewire Staff, IndieWire, 12 Aug. 2024

Big Boy asked if the Black churches and preachers were afraid to be involved, perhaps due to gang affiliations, and Sam did not give a direct reply. —Armon Sadler, VIBE.com, 12 Aug. 2024

Buy Now 09 of 10 'Southernmost' by Silas House After a devastating flood that washes away much of a Tennessee town, evangelical preacher Asher Sharp risks everything by offering shelter to two gay men. —Lizz Schumer, Peoplemag, 16 July 2024

Abul Baraa, a German-speaking Salafi preacher, is reaching thousands of followers with Q&A clips like this, which counterterrorism experts say can eventually leave followers ripe for recruitment by terror groups. —Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, 15 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

preacher

noun

preach·​er

ˈprē-chər

: one that preaches

especially : minister entry 1 sense 1b