church

1
as in temple
a building for public worship and especially Christian worship a city that is noted for its many historic churches

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2
as in congregation
a body of persons gathered for religious worship spoke to the whole church at once

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3
as in clergy
the group ordained to perform clerical functions in the Christian church a time when few young men seem to want to join the church

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 church Empsall’s small church offers classes on Christian resistance to fascism and how to reject White Christian nationalism as a perversion of Christianity. Liam Adams, USA Today, 16 Sep. 2025 They were married on June 19, 1949, at a Lutheran church in Montevideo, Minnesota. Hannah Shirley, Twin Cities, 16 Sep. 2025 The Sagrada Família was founded as an expiatory church, meaning that it would be financed by prayerful donations from people atoning for their sins. D. T. Max, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025 Pushback While the White evangelical leaders with whom Kirk built relationships used their Sunday sermons to eulogize him and galvanize a fight for conservative causes, several pastors at Black churches pushed back. Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 15 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for church
Recent Examples of Synonyms for church
Noun
  • Vengrinovich was taken to the temple where he was fed and then escorted by car to an Indian government hospital.
    David Chiu, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2025
  • The text records royal decrees including tax relief during poor Nile floods; donations to temples; the creation of a new priestly office; a festival tied to the heliacal rising of Sirius; and a calendar reform introducing a leap day every four years.
    Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 14 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Cianfrance said the congregation in the movie is made up of local actors and folks familiar with the Roofman story.
    Zach Dennis, Charlotte Observer, 10 Sep. 2025
  • Their good cop-bad cop ploy doesn’t seem to be particularly convincing or even fear-inspiring to the suspects of the congregation.
    Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 8 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • The sit-in inspired similar ones around North Carolina and a national movement with 700,000 students, clergy members and others fighting for racial equality.
    Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 12 Sep. 2025
  • While the clergy and staff of North Orange County’s synagogues – Temple Beth Tikvah, Temple Beth Ohr and Chabad of Yorba Linda – prepare for the services ahead, hundreds of local kitchens are abuzz with preparations for the celebratory meal launching the holiday.
    Judy Bart Kancigor, Oc Register, 11 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • The arrival ceremony is followed by a private luncheon, a chapel visit, and a musical performance.
    David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 17 Sep. 2025
  • The Trumps will get a tour of the chapel and a performance from its choir before Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife join the two couples alongside British and American military families.
    Jack Royston, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • The cathedral smells strongly of myrrh oil from Jerusalem.
    Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 10 Sep. 2025
  • Owner Caroline Tchekhoff brought a wellness space into the hotel, then used it as a springboard to launch community yoga classes held in the adjacent plaza, facing Cartagena’s centuries-old cathedral.
    Carley Rojas Ávila, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Renovation plans to this tabernacle feature a mental wellness center and a workout room.
    Sam Cohn, Baltimore Sun, 27 June 2025
  • Miller also noted that the original tabernacle of the church survived, along with 17th-century lead coffins that visitors can view under a glass floor.
    Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 20 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Church.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/church. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.

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