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.
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as in apostolic
relating to missionaries or their work
The church organizes missionary trips to a variety of countries.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of missionary
Essence, 17 July 2025
When missionaries accused Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita, the leader of a syncretic Christian movement, of heresy, an interpreter within the church spoke up for her.
—Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 12 July 2025
Morten Høi Jensen, The Dial, 19 June 2025
He was born in 1955 in Chicago and went on to do missionary work in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s and was elected prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine and prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
—Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 18 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for missionary
Noun
The muumuu originated in Hawai’i in the 19th century, initially worn by Christian missionaries to cover Hawaiian women according to Western standards of modesty.
—Essence, 17 July 2025
When missionaries accused Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita, the leader of a syncretic Christian movement, of heresy, an interpreter within the church spoke up for her.
—Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 12 July 2025
Adjective
In 1910, the explorer Knud Rasmussen, the son of a Danish missionary father and Inuit-Danish mother, established the first colonial presence on the northwest coast with the Thule trading station.
—Morten Høi Jensen, The Dial, 19 June 2025
He was born in 1955 in Chicago and went on to do missionary work in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s and was elected prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine and prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
—Kevin Dolak, HollywoodReporter, 18 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for missionary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for missionary
Noun
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Kelley Hudlow, missioner for clergy formation for the diocese, told NBC affiliate WVTM of Birmingham soon after the shooting that church leaders were trying to learn more.—
Phil Helsel,
NBC News,
17 June 2022
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Eby will continue to serve as outreach missioner at the Church of the Nativity and as priest-in-charge at St. Timothy’s Church in Athens.—
al,
al,
1 Dec. 2020
Adjective
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Echoing this sentiment of finding hope in La Virgen de la Puerta, Pope Francis, during his apostolic journey to Peru, crowned La Virgen de la Puerta and gave her the title of Mother of Mercy and Hope.—
Caitlin Cipolla-McCulloch,
The Conversation,
29 May 2025
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Francis chose to live in the humble Santa Marta guest house, not the apostolic palace.—
Howard Chua-Eoan,
Mercury News,
22 Apr. 2025
Noun
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In 1961: After a decree by the Volkskammer, East German soldiers began installing a barbed wire barrier through Berlin.—
Lorenzino Estrada,
AZCentral.com,
12 Aug. 2025
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Jeanette Winterson, The Passion Set during the Napoleonic Wars, this lyrical novel follows a French soldier who cooks for Napoleon and a Venetian woman who steals hearts—sometimes literally.—
Mark Nevins,
Forbes.com,
11 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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These include Orthodox Jews, Muslim and evangelical Christian groups.—
Kathy Kristof,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Aug. 2025
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Their public displays of religious dedication were indications of the state Republican Party’s embrace of a new class of evangelical conservatives whose goalposts continue to move further right, pulling once-fringe ideas into the mainstream.—
Bayliss Wagner,
Austin American Statesman,
30 July 2025
Noun
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The nurse called the priest to do an exorcism on the house and bless the nurse and her roommate.—
Pamela McLoughlin,
Hartford Courant,
5 Aug. 2025
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The Trump administration had faced pressure to release Go, the daughter of an Episcopal priest, from religious groups and at least one lawmaker from within the president’s own party.—
Emma Seiwell,
New York Daily News,
5 Aug. 2025
Noun
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To my surprise, that’s where this story began: a monk’s sweet tooth and a nutritionist’s patience.—
Omaid Homayun,
Forbes.com,
8 Aug. 2025
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In 1965, Snyder and his friend Philip Whalen had designed a hike in the Japanese mountain monk (yamabushi) tradition that followed a route with stations where the pilgrims stopped to chant from various Zen and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, something not only Buddhist but shamanic.—
Dennis McNally,
Rolling Stone,
7 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Missionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/missionary. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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