MONK Synonyms: 65 Similar and Opposite Words

monk

noun

Definition of monk

as in friar

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of monk Once a year, Akagawa takes the letters to a nearby Buddhist temple, where a monk prays over them. — Literary Hub, 17 June 2026 And not only would a medieval monk in the 13th century respond differently from a Hittite warrior from 2,500 years earlier, but even within a single city, people with different jobs, social roles or ways of thinking might answer differently. — Ky Merkley, The Conversation, 15 June 2026 Ashore, kids might enjoy fruit tastings, watch dragon dance or Apsara performances, visit a silk-weaving village, meet local schoolchildren, or receive a monk's blessing. — Ashlea Halpern, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 June 2026 The great Derek Jacobi plays the titular 12th century monk who was once a soldier of the Crusades. — Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for monk

Recent Examples of Synonyms for monk

Noun

Fra Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, who was a medieval Italian Franciscan friar and explorer in 1244 went to Mongolia [as a papal ambassador].

— Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 13 June 2026
The storied residence was first commissioned in 1712 by Anna Gravina, Princess of Gravina and Valguarnera, and it's also attributed to Dominican friar and architect Tommaso Maria Napoli.

— Natalia Senanayake, PEOPLE, 5 June 2026

Definition of friar

Noun

These people who see the theater as almost a monastic calling something of a higher order, and they’re brilliantly educated and funny.

— Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2025
As the numbers of women at the highest echelons of learning continue to grow, women will likewise expand their ability to take leadership roles in their monastic and lay communities – helping to improve other nuns’ education and protecting Tibetan culture in the process.

— Darcie Price-Wallace, The Conversation, 26 Sep. 2025

Definition of monastic

Noun

The court found that Shi used his positions, including as the temple abbot, to illegally embezzle more than $19 million alone or in conspiracy with others, between 2003 and 2025, CCTV reported.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2026
According to a relative of Nathan who provided some of the sources Amit studied, the abbot reportedly also wrote letters to the Vatican and to monasteries in Switzerland pleading for a safe exit for Wolfgang.

— Jackie Hajdenberg, Sun Sentinel, 21 Apr. 2026

Definition of abbot

Noun

Throughout much of Buddhist history, and particularly in Theravada Buddhist contexts, mindfulness and its associated meditation methods have been the purview of mendicants (monks and nuns), who used mindfulness meditation to achieve trance states (jhana) leading to nirvana.

— Charles Preston, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Apr. 2026
An internationally famous leader who lived a mendicant’s life.

— Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026

Definition of mendicant

Noun

Revolutionary Guard members and clerics mourn on the esplanade of the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla mosque.

— Chantal Da Silva, NBC news, 3 July 2026
Funeral ceremonies are expected to begin in Tehran and move to Qom, a stronghold of many senior Shiite clerics, then to Mashhad, Khamenei's birthplace.

— ABC News, ABC News, 13 June 2026

Definition of cleric

Noun

The dynamic duo of Jonda Valentine, an artist and daughter of a Pentecostal preacher, and her longtime friend Christa Suppan, who started as a bartender when Lipstick first opened, share co-ownership of the two bars.

— Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 July 2026
The street preacher asks if someone could be cited if a transgender person is offended if they are misgendered by another person.

— Emily Holshouser July 2, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 July 2026

Definition of preacher

Noun

Man of books and learning Several of the videos show Athanasius of Alexandria, a fourth-century bishop and theologian traditionally considered one of the church fathers.

— Denva Gallant, The Conversation, 8 July 2026
Juan José Gerardi Conedera (born December 27, 1922, Guatemala City, Guatemala—killed April 26, 1998, Guatemala City) was a Guatemalan Roman Catholic bishop and human rights activist.

— Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 July 2026

Definition of bishop

Noun

Among the residential buildings were the home of a deacon named Tisous and another that researchers think may have originally been a house church before the construction of the basilica.

— Anne Doran for ARTnews, Robb Report, 7 July 2026
Among the residential buildings were the home of a deacon named Tisous and another that researchers think may have originally been a house church before the construction of the basilica.

— Anne Doran, ARTnews.com, 6 July 2026

Definition of deacon

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monitory

monk

monkey

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“Monk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/monk. Accessed 11 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of monk

noun

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