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
Relevance
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
Max Burman, NBC news, 6 Apr. 2026
Sure sounds like the Tap are having a dig at pastoral English songs like the one above.
—Brett Milano, Boston Herald, 5 Apr. 2026
Marcus K. Dowling, Nashville Tennessean, 11 Sep. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for pastoral
Adjective
Few places feel farther from the Iran war than the potato fields of eastern England, where pastoral landscapes and ancient forests have inspired romantic painters and poets for centuries.
—Max Burman, NBC news, 6 Apr. 2026
Sure sounds like the Tap are having a dig at pastoral English songs like the one above.
—Brett Milano, Boston Herald, 5 Apr. 2026
Noun
The pastoral, yet bittersweet lament has turned into something of an emotionally restorative California wildfire reflection.
—Marcus K. Dowling, Nashville Tennessean, 11 Sep. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for pastoral
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pastoral
Adjective
-
Stedman offers a heartfelt homage to the virtues of rural community and the natural beauty unique to Western Australia, as well as a critique of the strictures and dangers inherent in small-minded communities.—
The Know,
Denver Post,
26 Apr. 2026
-
These dissident fighters – which include splinter groups who fight among themselves – have continued a low-level insurgency in some rural parts of Colombia.—
Annabella González,
CNN Money,
26 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The new bishop, who has spent his ministerial career in the nation's capital and surrounding communities, will work in a less Catholic and more rural region, overseeing the diocese’s 61,000 Catholics and 92 parishes throughout West Virginia.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
1 May 2026
-
The National Development and Reform Commission is a ministerial-level agency of the State Council and functions as a central economic planning and industrial policy body within the Chinese government.—
Dewardric L. McNeal,
CNBC,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
Where the hill of Fiesole begins to climb, but still in Florence, that’s where the quiet idyll of Il Salviatino begins, a 15th-century villa surrounded by a 13-acre park just 10 minutes away from the Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore) and a 25-minute ride from the airport.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
11 Apr. 2026
-
That this idyll is bound to expire, sooner or later, goes without saying.—
Jake Coyle,
Boston Herald,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
To say an elegy by heart/to zero our dying before birth.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
-
The show, a sort of elegy for Gen X, opens with a flash-forward to July 16, 1999, the final hours of Carolyn and John.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The epitome of that tradition is Choral Evensong, an evening service of hymns, psalms and prayers laid out by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Protestant archbishop of the Church of England, in 1549.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
5 Apr. 2026
-
After all, audiences may be captivated by the psalm singing itself, but then can also find more things that capture their imagination in the observational doc.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The Spiritual Sound Marc-André Hamelin, Found Objects / Sound Objects The Beths, Straight Line Was a Lie A year like no other, my 2025 in music was filled with joyous arias and madrigals of melancholy.—
Rolling Stone,
Rolling Stone,
29 Dec. 2025
-
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
Noun
-
This new 20-minute epic was the band’s Crazy Horse moment, their idea of a rock anthem that starts with a tuneful, melancholy song and then proceeds to deconstruct it with loud report.—
Stephen M. Deusner,
Pitchfork,
27 Apr. 2026
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Athena served as the central divine guardian and guide in the great epic, The Odyssey.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pastoral.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pastoral. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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