as in clergyman
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
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 deaconess
Then in 1964, Parks became a deaconess in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
—
Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
Born in a homestead just north of the D.C. border in 1930 and 1933, the brothers were raised in historic St. Phillips Baptist Church, where their father was an associate minister and their mother a deaconess.
—Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024
The Pauline epistles contain numerous references to women who were instrumental in the leadership of the early church: Phoebe, a deaconess; Chloe; Apphia; Euodia; Nympha; Junia.
—Cressida Leyshon, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023
In her younger years, Webb was an avid churchgoer in Baltimore, Maryland alongside her father, a deacon, and her mother, a deaconess, who met in a church choir.
—Robyn Mowatt, ELLE, 22 June 2023
Welcome to the Rehearsal Club, an artist residency and the one-year-old reincarnation of a nonprofit organization founded in 1913 by Jane Harriss Hall, an Episcopal deaconess, and Jean Greer, the daughter of New York’s Episcopal bishop.
—Joanne Kaufman, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2023
More recently, a Nov. 15, 2021 issue of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel noted that in 2017, Israeli archaeologists uncovered stones and mosaics memorializing Theodosia the deaconess and Gregoria the deaconess in the ruins of a 1,600-year-old basilica in Ashdod.
—Susan Degrane, chicagotribune.com, 30 Mar. 2022
Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
Born in a homestead just north of the D.C. border in 1930 and 1933, the brothers were raised in historic St. Phillips Baptist Church, where their father was an associate minister and their mother a deaconess.
—Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024
The Pauline epistles contain numerous references to women who were instrumental in the leadership of the early church: Phoebe, a deaconess; Chloe; Apphia; Euodia; Nympha; Junia.
—Cressida Leyshon, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023
In her younger years, Webb was an avid churchgoer in Baltimore, Maryland alongside her father, a deacon, and her mother, a deaconess, who met in a church choir.
—Robyn Mowatt, ELLE, 22 June 2023
Welcome to the Rehearsal Club, an artist residency and the one-year-old reincarnation of a nonprofit organization founded in 1913 by Jane Harriss Hall, an Episcopal deaconess, and Jean Greer, the daughter of New York’s Episcopal bishop.
—Joanne Kaufman, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2023
More recently, a Nov. 15, 2021 issue of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel noted that in 2017, Israeli archaeologists uncovered stones and mosaics memorializing Theodosia the deaconess and Gregoria the deaconess in the ruins of a 1,600-year-old basilica in Ashdod.
—Susan Degrane, chicagotribune.com, 30 Mar. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deaconess
Noun
-
The clergyman warns that failure to do so would jeopardize the future of Iran as well as the stability of the entire Middle East, unleashing an even more volatile and repressive regime in the war’s wake.—
Angie Leventis Lourgos,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Apr. 2026
-
The clergyman warned, however, that failure to do so would jeopardize the future of Iran and the stability of the entire Middle East, unleashing an even more volatile and repressive Tehran government in the war’s wake.—
Angie Leventis Lourgos,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Jump to Answer In Sinners, Wunmi Mosaku’s character, Annie, is the resident priestess.—
Craigh Barboza,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Mar. 2026
-
She’s being honored for her portrayal of Annie, the hoodoo priestess who is such a grounding force for the 2025 film.—
Kemi Alemoru,
Glamour,
14 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
In 2010 then-primate Nicholas Okoh endorsed the ordination of women as deacons, though only in limited forms of ministry such as service in hospitals or schools.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Still, Jos Valke, a deacon at the church of Wolder in Maaschtrict, described their shock at the discovery.—
Eleanor Beardsley,
NPR,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The 2018 agreement stipulates that Beijing proposes candidates for bishop, which the pope can veto, though the full text has never been made public.—
Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
17 Apr. 2026
-
In 1530 the Spanish bishop Bartolome de las Casas urged the Spanish Cortes to ban the enslavement of Indigenous persons.—
Bishop Peter A. Rosazza,
Hartford Courant,
17 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
This would be the case also for an apostate, heretic, schismatic bishop, presbyter, or deacon.—
Fr. Goran Jovicic,
National Review,
13 June 2021
-
The Rev. Allen D. Timm, executive presbyter of the Presbytery Church in Detroit, said the church is waiting to hear from the general assembly as to when volunteers will be dispatched to Houston.—
Allie Gross,
Detroit Free Press,
29 Aug. 2017
Noun
-
Christina Economos, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts, said diet is a primary driver of preventable disease.—
Deirdre Bardolf,
FOXNews.com,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Dave Chappelle Has Long-Standing Ties to Yellow Springs Chappelle was raised in Maryland but spent summers in the village, where his father served as dean of students at Antioch College.—
Samantha Agate,
Charlotte Observer,
17 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Patterson, an ordained clergywoman with a background in healthcare, joined the Legislature via a special election in 2020.—
oregonlive,
oregonlive,
8 Nov. 2022
Noun
-
Not all birth rituals depended on the intercession of a saint or the authority of a churchman.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 2026
-
In an area that used to produce influential Catholic churchmen the way the Dodgers churned out Rookies of the Year, Gomez has amounted to the living equivalent of a hair shirt: a mode of piety that serves no one but the wearer.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deaconess.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deaconess. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
