as in clergyman
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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
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The three killers might have gotten away with their crime if not for Casey, who eight months after the murder confessed to a clergyman and then led police to Pahler's mummified body.—
Chris Spargo,
People.com,
2 Sep. 2025
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The clergyman was from the Maryknoll mission, a Roman Catholic order that had long worked with the Japanese American community and was now assisting with their removal from the West Coast.—
Tracy Slater
July 10,
Literary Hub,
10 July 2025
Noun
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Seer: Big-budget historical epic following the Trojan priestess Cassandra and her lover Apollo.—
Vulture Staff,
Vulture,
15 July 2025
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One of the exciting new discoveries includes new information regarding Babylonian women–many were priestesses.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
2 July 2025
Noun
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Monica Nutti Blind, a deacon in the church who also is a member of the Sami people, said the church's architecture reminds her of the area's seasons.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
22 Aug. 2025
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Thirty-two deacons from around the world were being ordained that day.—
Kristine Tran,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
20 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The Christian city was a significant bishop's seat in the region during the Byzantine era.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
7 Sep. 2025
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Before their procession Saturday, the pilgrims gathered for a Mass in the Gesù church held by a senior Italian bishop, Francesco Savino.—
Christopher Lamb,
CNN Money,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
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This would be the case also for an apostate, heretic, schismatic bishop, presbyter, or deacon.—
Fr. Goran Jovicic,
National Review,
13 June 2021
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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
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Normally home to the cathedral's dean, the Tudor-era deanery has been unused since the last dean resigned in March 2025.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
5 Sep. 2025
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The three coaches and a dean were later reinstated.—
Kate Perez,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Patterson, an ordained clergywoman with a background in healthcare, joined the Legislature via a special election in 2020.—
oregonlive,
oregonlive,
8 Nov. 2022
Noun
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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
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Martini was a key figure in a group of churchmen who met annually in St. Gallen, Switzerland, to ponder how best to blunt John Paul and Ratzinger’s reactionary thrust.—
Paul Elie,
The New Yorker,
26 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deaconess.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deaconess. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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