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
Not bad for a musical about Mormon missionaries trying to convert the residents of a remote Ugandan village — an idea that, let’s face it, sounds ripe for disaster.
—
Randy McMullen, Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2026
In the South, Black ministers and White missionaries welcomed the formerly enslaved into the faith and worked with them to establish independent social and political lives.
—Literary Hub, 4 Mar. 2026
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
First came Catholic missionaries from Europe, who found willing converts among a population still reeling from catastrophe.
—Margaret Talbot, 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
Randy McMullen, Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2026
In the South, Black ministers and White missionaries welcomed the formerly enslaved into the faith and worked with them to establish independent social and political lives.
—Literary Hub, 4 Mar. 2026
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
First came Catholic missionaries from Europe, who found willing converts among a population still reeling from catastrophe.
—Margaret Talbot, 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for missionaries
Noun
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Arad's wife urged Israel's leaders not to endanger the lives of Israeli soldiers in their search to bring home his body.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Mar. 2026
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And on Friday, eight Israeli soldiers were wounded by Hezbollah fire, according to the Israel Defense Forces.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
7 Mar. 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 13 Mar. 2026.
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