APOSTOLIC Synonyms: 38 Similar and Opposite Words

apostolic

adjective

Definition of apostolic

as in episcopal

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of apostolic Pope Leo at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa on Monday, the second day of his apostolic visit to Lebanon. — Alexander Smith, NBC news, 3 Dec. 2025 All those present in the audience in the Vatican’s apostolic palace met Leo personally at the end, with Lee presenting the first American pope with a New York Knicks jersey. — Christopher Lamb, CNN Money, 15 Nov. 2025 Until then, Vigneron will serve as apostolic administrator for the Detroit archdiocese. — Niraj Warikoo, Freep.com, 11 Feb. 2025 If that’s the case, then the plausibility of traditional Christianity collapses, for its authority is based on the claim to have preserved intact the apostolic witness, the most reliable source of revelation. — R. R. Reno, Foreign Affairs, 13 Nov. 2018 See All Example Sentences for apostolic

Recent Examples of Synonyms for apostolic

Adjective

After returning to the United States, Novakovic attended an Episcopal boarding school in San Antonio, Texas.

— byRachel Cole, Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 May 2026
On New Year’s Eve in 1996, Christou followed Deadbeat with a club at a former Episcopal church that was built in 1865.

— Max Scheinblum, Denver Post, 26 Feb. 2026

Definition of episcopal

Adjective

The last few weeks have shown his governing style and a remarkable run of papal decision-making where Leo has set the agenda, rather than merely fulfill the appointments set by his predecessor.

— Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2026
Leo is spending the rest of July at the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo, the Vatican’s historic summer residence south of Rome that the American pope has turned into his weekly getaway for tennis and swimming.

— Nicole Winfield, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026

Definition of papal

Adjective

Tony Pérez is an evangelical pastor in Reading, Pennsylvania, a city whose population is about seventy per cent Latino.

— Jack Herrera, New Yorker, 14 July 2026
Although Republicans remained a minority in the early 1990s, demographic change, evangelical mobilization and suburban realignment were steadily improving their prospects.

— Christopher A. Cooper, The Conversation, 14 July 2026

Definition of evangelical

Adjective

The union represents over 250,000 classified public school employees, like bus drivers, custodians, food service workers, para-educators, clerical staff and campus security guards.

— Nollyanne Delacruz, Mercury News, 15 July 2026
In the public notice announcing the ship’s passengers, Joseph Shiers was transformed into Joseph Shires—perhaps a clerical error, perhaps a hint of his tendency toward reinvention.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 July 2026

Definition of clerical

Adjective

His comments follow a World Bank’s assessment urging Pretoria to scrap ministerial approval requirements that have throttled the competitiveness of industrial parks within South Africa’s SEZs.

— Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 8 July 2026
Yet the latest prime ministerial switch raises a fundamental question not just for Britain’s political future, but for that of other major European countries such as France and Germany.

— Ned Temko, Christian Science Monitor, 25 June 2026

Definition of ministerial

Adjective

The interior and exterior become one, a magical pastoral world in the middle of the city.

— Francesca Longoni, Architectural Digest, 18 July 2026
Originally, the park was supposed to mimic an Old World pastoral landscape, with English cottage scenes and a mill wheel.

— John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 13 July 2026

Definition of pastoral

Adjective

Leo opened his visit to Pompeii by meeting with sick and disabled people who are cared for by a charity center affiliated with the sanctuary, which Leo’s namesake, Pope Leo XIII, declared a pontifical basilica in 1901.

— ABC News, ABC News, 8 May 2026
That public spat has overshadowed his pontifical tour of four African countries, which ended Thursday with a Mass for thousands of people in Malabo, the former capital of Equatorial Guinea.

— Claudio Lavanga, NBC news, 23 Apr. 2026

Definition of pontifical

Browse Nearby Words

apostles

apostolic

apothecaries

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“Apostolic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apostolic. Accessed 21 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of apostolic

adjective

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