Synonyms of missionary

missionary 1 of 2

noun

as in missioner

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

• missioner
• soldier
• priest
• monk
• apostle
• minister
• preacher
• bishop
• religious
• evangelist
• revivalist
• deacon
• clergyman
• friar
• scholar
• pastor
• student
• reverend
• monastic
• clerical
• ecclesiastic
• padre
• mendicant
• cleric
• proselytizer
• churchman
• chaplain
• deaconess
• prelate
• diocesan
• vicar
• divine
• pope
• archbishop
• priestess
• curé
• presbyter
• dean
• parson
• rector
• dominie
• abbot
• clerk
• father
• abbé
• advocate
• oblate
• confessor
• clergyperson
• shepherd
• monsignor
• partisan
• faithful
• curate
• supporter
• disciple
• protégé
• clergywoman
• loyalist
• Holy Joe
• devotee
• archpriest
• high priest
• high priestess
• champion
• worshipper
• zealot
• adherent
• enthusiast
• fan
• sectarian
• ideologist
• sky pilot
• acolyte
• admirer
• idolater
• follower
• ideologue
• pupil
• votary
• cultist
• backer
• convert
• liege man
• epigone
• votarist

Dissimilar Words

• renegade
• traitor
• defector
• apostate
• leader
• turncoat
• secular
• layman
• layperson
• lector
• lay reader
• coryphaeus

missionary

2 of 2

adjective

as in apostolic

relating to missionaries or their work

The church organizes missionary trips to a variety of countries.

Related Words

• apostolic
• evangelical
• papal
• religious
• pastoral
• episcopal
• diocesan
• ecclesiastical
• ecclesiastic
• pontifical
• patriarchal
• diaconal
• canonical
• churchly
• sacramental
• divine
• monastic
• mendicant
• conventual
• holy
• ministerial
• clerical
• rabbinic
• sacerdotal
• priestly
• monachal
• caliphal
• clerkly

Dissimilar Words

• secular
• lay
• temporal
• nonclerical

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of missionary

Noun

More than a century ago, French Catholic missionaries introduced winemaking to northern Yunnan, producing vines for sacramental wine and leaving behind a legacy that blends European techniques with local Tibetan culture. — Roger Sands, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026

Bergen played Shirley, one of the missionaries who were caught in the crossfire when the Chinese Civil War began. — Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 8 July 2026

Adjective

Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, which provides some Catholic Church missionary services to the poor and disadvantaged in other countries, sold the property. — George Avalos, Mercury News, 10 June 2026

Early life and music career Colson Baker was born in Houston to missionary parents. — Alison Eldridge, Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 June 2026