protestant

noun

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prot·es·tant | \ ˈprä-tə-stənt

, sense 2 is also prə-ˈte-

Definition of protestant

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 Protestant

a : any of a group of German princes and cities presenting a defense of freedom of conscience against an edict of the Diet of Speyer in 1529 intended to suppress the Lutheran movement

b : a member of any of several church denominations denying the universal authority of the Pope and affirming the Reformation principles of justification by faith alone, the priesthood of all believers, and the primacy of the Bible as the only source of revealed truth broadly : a Christian not of a Catholic or Eastern church

2 : one who makes or enters a protest

protestant

adjective

Definition of protestant (Entry 2 of 2)

1 capitalized : of or relating to Protestants, their churches, or their religion

2 : making or sounding a protest the two protestant ladies up and marched out — Time

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Examples of protestant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Fundamentalist protestants, a powerful political force in South Korea, are particularly distrustful of fringe Christian sects -- especially Shincheonji, which has been accused of poaching members of other churches. — Joshua Berlinger, CNN, 6 Mar. 2020 About a quarter of all American adults identify as evangelical protestants, according to a 2014 poll by the Pew Research Center. — BostonGlobe.com, 29 Dec. 2019 On July 24, the protestants testified about their concerns before an administrative judge in Oakland. — Esther Mobley, SFChronicle.com, 5 Aug. 2019 Anand, Schenker and the other protestants did not respond to requests for comment. — Esther Mobley, SFChronicle.com, 5 Aug. 2019 As a protestant who overthrew a Catholic, William III has become a hero to Northern Ireland's 20th century unionists, a political constituency that wished to remain a part of the U.K., rather than join the rest of Catholic Ireland. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, 22 Feb. 2019 In David Ireland’s play, directed by Vicky Featherstone, Eric, a protestant and lifelong Orangeman, gets a nasty surprise: His baby granddaughter looks like I.R.A. bigwig Gerry Adams. — Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 21 June 2018 This comes as the Presbyterians, like other mainline protestants churches, have faced rapidly declining memberships and an identity crisis that has allowed the more radical elements within the church to hijack the movement, observers say. — Sean Savage, Jewish Journal, 26 June 2018 But one group the administration did not win were white mainline protestants. — Eugene Scott, Washington Post, 20 June 2018 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Most evangelical protestant churches teach that salvation is permanent, so Long’s decision to be rebaptized is unusual. — Jeremy Redmon, ajc, 20 Mar. 2021 But the legalization movement still faces fierce opposition from the Roman Catholic Church and evangelical protestant churches. — New York Times, 29 Dec. 2020 Among evangelical protestant churches, many have reported great success in moving online. — Nicholas Rowan, Washington Examiner, 8 Apr. 2020 Ronnie Floyd, president of the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s largest protestant denomination, said there is a growing willingness to discuss mental health today compared with 20 years ago. — Ian Lovett, WSJ, 20 Jan. 2020 Yet this was no normal coronation: The pair had effectively been sailed in from Holland to shore up the protestant nature of the English crown, in what was known as The Glorious Revolution. — Phil Boucher, PEOPLE.com, 6 Dec. 2019 Trump has an approval rating above the national average at 85% of the predominately white, protestant churches in America, Burge said. — Anna Staver, The Denver Post, 29 Sep. 2019 The main explanations included growing work pressure—mainly because of women’s entry into the workforce—and the decline of social institutions such as mainline protestant churches. — The Economist, 1 Aug. 2019 Every American president has had ties to a protestant or Catholic church. — Daniel Oberhaus, WIRED, 16 July 2019

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