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.
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Recent Examples of missionaries
From when French fur trappers and Catholic missionaries first made their way to the Great Lakes in the 17th century until the onset of a population boom in the mid-19th century, Indigenous inhabitants sustained relatively stable and mutually beneficial relations with colonial powers.
—
Daniel Cueto-Villalobos, The Conversation, 26 Feb. 2026
Hispanic settlers and missionaries later made their way into the area, and tribes continued to live in various parts of Arizona.
—Paige Moore, AZCentral.com, 13 Feb. 2026
The mothers were usually poor women or prostitutes, the children generally given up for adoption to orphanages, many of them run by foreign missionaries.
—Literary Hub, 11 Feb. 2026
By the mid-sixties and seventies, Unification missionaries were flooding Japan.
—E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
Before that, there were Picts, Celts, and early Christian missionaries (it is thought that the great Irish warrior-saint Columba may have visited Eilean Shona).
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Jan. 2026
The informal garden style — of which the English garden is the most notable type — dates to the late 17th century when Jesuit missionaries began sending sketches of Chinese Imperial gardens back to England.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 17 Jan. 2026
Some of that reporting said the weapons were intended for delivery to 400 Mawozo, a Haitian street gang that gained wide attention in 2021 for kidnapping 17 missionaries with a religious group from Ohio.
—Steve Patterson, Florida Times-Union, 14 Jan. 2026
Hit the apps Diplomats, CEOs and missionaries often learn languages in high-intensity, immersive environments with dedicated instructors.
—The New York Times News Service Syndicate, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Jan. 2026
Daniel Cueto-Villalobos, The Conversation, 26 Feb. 2026
Hispanic settlers and missionaries later made their way into the area, and tribes continued to live in various parts of Arizona.
—Paige Moore, AZCentral.com, 13 Feb. 2026
The mothers were usually poor women or prostitutes, the children generally given up for adoption to orphanages, many of them run by foreign missionaries.
—Literary Hub, 11 Feb. 2026
By the mid-sixties and seventies, Unification missionaries were flooding Japan.
—E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
Before that, there were Picts, Celts, and early Christian missionaries (it is thought that the great Irish warrior-saint Columba may have visited Eilean Shona).
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Jan. 2026
The informal garden style — of which the English garden is the most notable type — dates to the late 17th century when Jesuit missionaries began sending sketches of Chinese Imperial gardens back to England.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 17 Jan. 2026
Some of that reporting said the weapons were intended for delivery to 400 Mawozo, a Haitian street gang that gained wide attention in 2021 for kidnapping 17 missionaries with a religious group from Ohio.
—Steve Patterson, Florida Times-Union, 14 Jan. 2026
Hit the apps Diplomats, CEOs and missionaries often learn languages in high-intensity, immersive environments with dedicated instructors.
—The New York Times News Service Syndicate, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for missionaries
Noun
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On Saturday, the Afghan Defense Ministry claimed that Afghan forces killed 110 Pakistani soldiers during ongoing fighting.—
MUNIR AHMED,
Arkansas Online,
1 Mar. 2026
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Scores of protesters gathered in Times Square on Saturday afternoon to rally against the strikes, accusing the president of being a rogue actor who has put soldiers’ lives on the line for no reason.—
Julian Roberts-Grmela,
New York Daily News,
28 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Ultimately, the pharaoh’s prescient spiritual optimism comes in conflict with the all-powerful establishment priests, who kill Akhnaten and Nefertiti.—
Classical Music Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
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The report then stressed the need for the diocese to abandon the practice of requiring victims to take polygraph tests and to stop refusing to investigate third-party complaints about priests.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Two monks sustained serious injuries, and one monk lost part of his leg as a result of the crash.—
Jasmine Baehr,
FOXNews.com,
10 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Missionaries.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/missionaries. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.
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