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

• 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

And throughout a 100-minute show, Cain recounted the story of a preacher’s daughter through wailing vocals, haunting drones, and meditative, languorous chants. —Audrey Gibbs, Nashville Tennessean, 3 Sep. 2025

From there, the plot pretzels itself into typical noir convolution, giving us an excuse to meet all sorts of characters, not least a shady local preacher played by Chris Evans, who uses his almost embarrassingly all-American good looks to convey treacle and snake oil. —Daniel Bromfield, Mercury News, 29 Aug. 2025

Law enforcement had detained 11 preachers that were approaching shoppers at a local mall. —Audrey Gibbs, The Tennessean, 28 Aug. 2025

The book revolves around the young son of a preacher, but encompasses, too, the lives of his father, mother, and aunt. —The New Yorker, New Yorker, 20 Aug. 2025

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