friar

Definition of friarnext

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 friar In the 13th century, German Dominican friar and scientist Albertus Magnus, was among the first to formally recognize and document European leafy mistletoe (Viscum album) as a plant parasite. Matt Kasson, Popular Science, 17 Dec. 2025 Where to Go Assisi, the birthplace of Saint Francis, an iconic Italian friar and the founder of the Franciscan Order, is a great place to start your Umbrian adventure. Matteo Della Grazia, Travel + Leisure, 27 Nov. 2025 Father Patrick Mary Briscoe, a Dominican friar based in Rome, Italy, told Fox News Digital the Dozulé messages inspired curiosity in some circles. Ashley J. Dimella, FOXNews.com, 14 Nov. 2025 Guido eventually became a Dominican friar, dedicating himself to making art within the mendicant order; after his death, in 1455, he became known as Fra Angelico, or the Angelic Friar. Louise Bokkenheuser, Air Mail, 4 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for friar
Recent Examples of Synonyms for friar
Noun
  • In October of 1517, a 34-year-old monk named Martin Luther (probably) nailed his famous Ninety-Five Theses to the door of All Saint’s Church in Wittenberg, in what is now eastern Germany.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
  • The city’s oldest Zen Buddhist temple, Kennin-ji Temple is across the street, and one of the hotel’s many offerings is a quiet early morning walking meditation led by a monk in the dry gardens of its sub-temple Ryosokuin.
    Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • An internationally famous leader who lived a mendicant’s life.
    Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
  • But those states also have Republican governors, who would have raised holy hell if their constituents had been menaced by these roving mobs of mendicants.
    Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 28 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • His father, much older than his mom, was a preacher who wanted his son to follow in his footsteps.
    Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2026
  • Moreover, as soon as Christianity began to spread outside his native land, Christian converts faced new situations in unexpected contexts, completely different from those of their founder, an itinerant Jewish preacher in the sparsely populated hinterlands of rural Galilee.
    Big Think, Big Think, 26 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • These people who see the theater as almost a monastic calling something of a higher order, and they’re brilliantly educated and funny.
    Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2025
  • As the numbers of women at the highest echelons of learning continue to grow, women will likewise expand their ability to take leadership roles in their monastic and lay communities – helping to improve other nuns’ education and protecting Tibetan culture in the process.
    Darcie Price-Wallace, The Conversation, 26 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • The reverend in charge of the largest cathedral in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh has resigned after being arrested and accused of stealing more than $1,000 worth of baseball trading cards.
    Andy Sheehan, CBS News, 16 Mar. 2026
  • South African President Cyril Ramaphosa thanked the late reverend for his work to end South Africa’s apartheid system.
    Matt Brown, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • More recently, Kalshi users sued the platform in California earlier this month after the market refused to pay out winners who had successfully predicted the death of Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, citing policy banning betting on deaths.
    Lia Russell March 27, Sacbee.com, 27 Mar. 2026
  • But a Shiite cleric named Ruhollah Khomeini denounced the unequal pact, saying that an American dog in Iran was treated as more valuable than an Iranian citizen — and his criticism helped propel him to leadership of the opposition and ultimately to the Islamic Revolution.
    Nicholas D. Kristof, Mercury News, 21 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • The abbot of Wat Saman Rattanaram in Chachoengsao province, about 50 miles east of Bangkok, warned that cremation services may have to be suspended.
    Chas Newkey-Burden, TheWeek, 22 Mar. 2026
  • Phommasan, a native of Laos and abbot at a Buddhist temple in Snellville, was recently fitted with a prosthetic leg at Mercer University.
    AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 20 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Among them was Sandra Olewine, a bishop of the United Methodist Church’s California-Nevada Conference.
    Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 28 Mar. 2026
  • Primal Fear charts the story of a Chicago defense attorney who believes that his altar boy client is not guilty of murdering a Catholic bishop.
    Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 26 Mar. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Friar.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/friar. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.

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