1
as in rural
of, relating to, associated with, or typical of open areas with few buildings or people
painted a pastoral scene of a flower-filled meadow
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ministerial
of, relating to, or characteristic of the clergy
pastoral advice to a young couple preparing to marry
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in pastorale
Related Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pastoral
Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Oct. 2025
In his pastoral work, his friends said, Williams strove for innovation and fostering deep connections with his congregation, having worship in different homes in the community some weeks and prioritizing helping others.
—Sierra Van Der Brug, Oc Register, 25 Oct. 2025
Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 25 Apr. 2025
Elsewhere, Abercrombie’s pastorals are almost like burlesques of plein air painting.
—Jeremy Lybarger, ARTnews.com, 26 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pastoral
Adjective
Tolkien conceived of the Shire as the quaint, pastoral homeland of the Hobbits, a race of short yet courageous dwellers of the fictional Middle-earth.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Oct. 2025
In his pastoral work, his friends said, Williams strove for innovation and fostering deep connections with his congregation, having worship in different homes in the community some weeks and prioritizing helping others.
—Sierra Van Der Brug, Oc Register, 25 Oct. 2025
Noun
His voice is the ghost in the machine, a strangely humane presence amid all the urban-industrial pastoral.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 25 Apr. 2025
Elsewhere, Abercrombie’s pastorals are almost like burlesques of plein air painting.
—Jeremy Lybarger, ARTnews.com, 26 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pastoral
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pastoral
Adjective
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The One Big, Beautiful Bill Act updated the farm safety net and other farm insurance programs, but lawmakers still need to revise programs concerning rural development and agricultural research.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
11 Nov. 2025
-
Daly's parents live in rural Illinois and her mom spends a lot of time online shopping.—
Madeline Mitchell,
USA Today,
11 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The world’s diplomats must refuse to seat or recognise Min Aung Hlaing or his representatives at any summit or ministerial meeting.—
Kim Aris,
Time,
7 Nov. 2025
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The board voted to send a letter to the city urging caution in allowing ministerial approval of higher-density projects and targeting higher resource areas like Carmel Valley and Pacific Highlands Ranch.—
Karen Billing,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Including 55 serious operas, 6 cantatas, 53 comic operas, 17 operettas, 6 sing-spiele, 4 ballets, 4 vaudevilles, 2 oratorios, one each of fares, pastorales, masques, ballads and buffas.—
WILLIAM ROBIN,
New York Times,
1 Sep. 2017
Noun
-
Their romantic idyll, however, didn’t last.—
Christina Coulter,
PEOPLE,
29 Oct. 2025
-
This idyll on the banks of the Hudson, alas, cannot last, and the son inherits his father’s appetite for action with interest.—
Nick Pinkerton,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Immigration tales tend to adopt a hybrid form—part elegy for life in the home country, part hymn to the promise of the new.—
Tope Folarin,
The Atlantic,
8 Nov. 2025
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At the juncture between postwar noir and golden-age melodrama is Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, a saturnine elegy to a lost Hollywood of the silent era, when faces and charisma were more desirable than voices or talent.—
Erik Morse,
Vogue,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Tutivillus, who totted up all the mistakes clergymen made when singing hymns or reciting psalms.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
31 Oct. 2025
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The basilica was temporarily shut down on Monday, Oct. 13, and prayers and psalms were said as holy water was showered on the altar, according to the outlet.—
Sam Gillette,
PEOPLE,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
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This is a lovely fundraiser to assist in the preservation of the cemetery, and the day is filled with master gardeners offering advice, madrigals singing, an archaeology talk, refreshments, kids’ activities and lots of lovely spring plants for sale.—
Janet Kusterer,
Baltimore Sun,
25 Mar. 2025
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The service and concert will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, at the church, 815 S. Washington St. Castle Singers are vocalists who perform a variety of chamber repertoire, varying from Renaissance madrigals and motets to contemporary pop and vocal jazz.—
Aurora Beacon-News,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Celebrated author and classicist Daniel Mendelsohn brings Homer’s great epic to vividly poetic new life.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
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This film, released in 2023, is Scorsese’s historical crime epic about the Osage murders of the 1920s.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pastoral.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pastoral. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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