as in letter
a message on paper from one person or group to another
the epistles of Saint Paul to various communities of early Christians
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Recent Examples of epistle
Yet the novel evolved incrementally from public to private, epistle to narrative as the scope of the vision enlarged.
—
David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 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
The Rapture has no scriptural basis besides an obviously metaphorical verse in Paul’s first epistle to the Thessalonians.
—Michael Robbins, Harper’s Magazine , 9 Nov. 2022
The group epistle was sent to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a division of HHS that works on research and tools to improve health care and policy.
—Tom Simonite, Wired, 24 Sep. 2020
See All Example Sentences for epistle
David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 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
The Rapture has no scriptural basis besides an obviously metaphorical verse in Paul’s first epistle to the Thessalonians.
—Michael Robbins, Harper’s Magazine , 9 Nov. 2022
The group epistle was sent to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a division of HHS that works on research and tools to improve health care and policy.
—Tom Simonite, Wired, 24 Sep. 2020
See All Example Sentences for epistle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for epistle
letter
Noun
-
Detective Wilson confronted him with a stack of those letters.—
Peter Van Sant,
CBS News,
12 Apr. 2026
-
If my love letter and before and after photos aren’t convincing enough, there’s also the titular serum it's infused with.—
Tamim Alnuweiri,
InStyle,
11 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Epistle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/epistle. Accessed 14 Apr. 2026.
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