deaconesses

noun

plural of deaconess
as in priestesses

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for deaconesses
  1. deacons
  2. priests
  3. preachers
  4. deans
  5. popes
  6. pastors
Noun
  • Church deacons want it to be called Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, its previous name.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Her parents, Baptist deacons who ultimately left the church over its refusal to ordain women, raised their children to wrestle with such questions.
    — Pamela Colloff, ProPublica, 30 June 2026
Definition of deacons
Noun
  • Moretta is 10 years past the customary retirement age for Catholic priests.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2026
  • The church began ordaining women as priests in the 1980s, beginning with Lucia Okuthe of the diocese of Maseno South in 1983.
    — Stephanie TriplettAll, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of priests
Noun
  • Videos posted on social media show street preachers speaking with multiple police officers outside the event.
    — Emily Holshouser, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 July 2026
  • Instead, there are countless influencers, preachers, and personalities who have created niche movements with their own theologies and political alignments.
    — Meghan O’Gieblyn, The New York Review of Books, 11 July 2026
Definition of preachers
Noun
  • Continue reading … 'THIS IS RIDICULOUS' — Med school deans come up empty in tense hearing when asked point blank if men can have babies.
    — , FOXNews.com, 15 July 2026
  • Pageants, deans' lists, graduations or military enlistments are not accepted.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 21 June 2026
Definition of deans
Noun
  • Past presidents have met with popes and taken their criticisms on the chin, so to speak, but never has a president excoriated a pope in a public manner.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 20 Apr. 2026
Definition of popes
Noun
  • Churchgoers mourn beloved pastors People passing by the Pentecostal City Mission Church were overcome with emotion Friday after learning the horrific details of the crash that killed their beloved bishop and assistant pastor.
    — Mark Prussin, CBS News, 24 Apr. 2026
  • By visiting with the sick and shut-in, helping the bereaved, ministering to the incarcerated, always being willing to open the doors of Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church to more people, teaching theology to other pastors and more, Thornhill was a pastor.
    — Sophia Tiedge, jsonline.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Definition of pastors
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Deaconesses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deaconesses. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

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