priest

noun \ ˈprēst \

|Updated on: 18 Jun 2018

Definition of priest

: one authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion especially as a mediatory agent between humans and God; specifically : an Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, or Roman Catholic clergyman ranking below a bishop and above a deacon

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Examples of priest in a Sentence

He was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest.
searched for a priest who could perform an exorcism

Recent Examples of priest from the Web

In May, all of Chile’s 30-plus active bishops offered to quit over their collective guilt in failing to protect Chile’s children from priests who raped, groped and molested them.

— Washington Post, "Chilean police raid Catholic Church offices amid abuse probe," 13 June 2018
One ledger here contains 1,846 images of doctors, slaves, priests, soldiers, merchants, politicians and others, of seemingly all ethnic backgrounds.

— edward rothstein, WSJ, "‘Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now’ Review: Tracing the Shadows of Past and Present," 13 June 2018
Those included allegedly using his office to enrich himself and wiretapping political opponents, including priests, trade unionists and diplomats.

— tracy wilkinson, latimes.com, "Former Panama president extradited from U.S. to face corruption charges," 11 June 2018
Eastern rite priests elsewhere, including in Ukraine, had been permitted to be married.

— kristin e. holmes, Philly.com, "The archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Philadelphia retires and goes home," 10 June 2018
If all believers are priests, charged with working out their own salvation, then doctrinal divisions will necessarily proliferate.

— sarah jones, The New Republic, "What’s Next for Evangelicalism?," 7 June 2018
Born in Washington, DC on December 12, 1927, David was an Episcopal priest, ordained in December 1954, and served parishes in Lowell, MA, Madison, FL, Augusta, Americus, and Savannah, GA, and East Berlin and Waterbury, CT.

— hartford courant, courant.com, "David G. Pritchard," 6 June 2018
Through a friend, my mom got a meeting with a priest, who handed her a stack of paperwork to homeschool me on the sacrament.

— sara eckel, Longreads, "The Hole in My Soul," 1 June 2018
Ryan and about 50 other nuns and priests, sisters and brothers, celebrated their jubilees, or milestone anniversaries, of their religious careers, during a special Mass on Saturday at St. Bernadette Catholic Church in Evergreen Park.

— frank vaisvilas, Daily Southtown, "A lifetime of devotion: Cardinal Cupich helps priests, nuns celebrate milestone anniversaries in Evergreen Park," 26 May 2018

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