Synonyms of missionaries

missionaries

noun

plural of missionary

as in missioners

a person who is sent especially to a foreign country to do religious work (such as converting people to the religion or ministering to the sick)

The missionaries sent to the island were ultimately unsuccessful in converting the native residents.

Related Words

• missioners
• soldiers
• priests
• monks
• apostles
• ministers
• preachers
• evangelists
• bishops
• friars
• deacons
• clergymen
• religious
• proselytizers
• revivalists
• ecclesiastics
• pastors
• clerics
• scholars
• churchmen
• students
• mendicants
• monastics
• padres
• clericals
• deaconesses
• chaplains
• divines
• prelates
• priestesses
• popes
• archbishops
• vicars
• abbots
• deans
• presbyters
• oblates
• reverends
• rectors
• clerks
• clergypersons
• fathers
• confessors
• parsons
• shepherds
• advocates
• clergywomen
• dominies
• diocesans
• protégés
• supporters
• loyalists
• curés
• abbés
• disciples
• Holy Joes
• curates
• archpriests
• devotees
• adherents
• partisans
• sectarians
• worshippers
• monsignors
• cultists
• zealots
• fans
• ideologists
• champions
• high priests
• enthusiasts
• sky pilots
• acolytes
• followers
• idolaters
• votaries
• high priestesses
• pupils
• ideologues
• admirers
• converts
• faithfuls
• backers
• liege men
• epigones
• votarists

Dissimilar Words

• traitors
• renegades
• defectors
• leaders
• apostates
• turncoats
• laymen
• laypeople
• seculars
• lectors
• lay readers
• coryphaei

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of missionaries

The native people of this region were not wiped out by smallpox and instead established an independent kingdom that blends a traditional monarchy with Catholicism, thanks to the efforts of some earlier missionaries. — John Warner, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2026

The coding missionaries of the twenty-tens made errors both practical and philosophical. — Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2026

The organization drew international attention in 2021, when 17 of its missionaries were kidnapped on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince by the 400 Mawozo gang. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 15 Sep. 2026

Visiting missionaries fill tribal members’ gas tanks and replace their sagging roofs. — Savannah Peters, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026

In 2008, about 18,400 African missionaries had served abroad, according to one estimate. — Nimi Princewill, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026

That historic exodus helped turn the Republic of Korea, as South Korea is formally known, into a stronghold of the Christian faith and one of the world’s biggest exporters of missionaries. — Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2026

His parents, Cynthia and Warren Bonta, were missionaries and social justice activists who were drawn to the state’s signature civil rights struggle of that era. — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 2 Sep. 2026

The church’s origins date to the arrival of Christian missionaries in Mombasa in 1844, and its membership has long represented a diverse cross section of Kenyan society, with members of various ethnicities and social strata. — Stephanie Triplettall, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026