proselyte 1 of 2

as in recruit
a person who has recently been persuaded to join a religious sect an adult proselyte who had only recently been baptized

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proselyte

2 of 2

verb

as in to convert
to persuade to change to one's religious faith she's been trying to proselyte everyone in the office ever since she joined that church

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Example Sentences

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 proselyte
Noun
Seneca went on to become a proselyte for the Stoic path, extolling its benefits in a long run of prose essays while also serving—in some eyes, dishonorably—as an adviser to Nero. James Romm, WSJ, 17 Dec. 2021 In order to understand this idea, the special relationship between God and the proselyte must be examined. Rabbi Avi Weiss, sun-sentinel.com, 17 May 2021 Kitselman also became a proselyte for the history of Waterford, helping to create educational programming at the town’s Second Street School. Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2021 Christian Angermayer is an unlikely proselyte of psychedelia: The German financier didn’t drink so much as a sip of beer for the first three decades of his life. Meghana Keshavan, Scientific American, 9 July 2019 Enter proselytes in acetate eyeglasses and Rosie Pope workwear, drawn by listservs like Brooklynitos and Fort Greene Kids and BoCoCa Moms (BoCoCa being an acronym for three adjacent Brooklyn neighborhoods). Sonja Sharp, latimes.com, 27 June 2018 The authors observe that Yemeni Jews share elevated IBD with other Jewish populations, suggesting more than an indigenous proselyte origin for this community. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 13 Aug. 2012
Recent Examples of Synonyms for proselyte
Noun
  • Federal prosecutors in New York said Maxwell helped Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately abuse girls as young as 14.
    John Parkinson, ABC News, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Mizzou has already hosted top big-man target Tristan Reed, a four-star recruit out of Link Academy in Branson.
    Joseph Pastilha, Kansas City Star, 8 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Customers can wrap the truck’s exterior paneling in a color or print of their choosing, as well as customize lighting and tires, and even convert the two-passenger flat bed truck into a 5-person SUV.
    Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 10 Sep. 2025
  • In his testimony, Norwood argues that Entergy failed to consider other less costly options for its generating project in Jefferson County, namely converting the already-existing White Bluff facility to burn natural gas.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 10 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Anderson’s ensemble—Regina Hall, Wood Harris, newcomer Chase Infiniti—signals scale and stakes.
    Okla Jones, Essence, 10 Sep. 2025
  • More than just a coffee shop, Refuge has a workforce-development program to help newcomers get settled, connect with people, and learn skills to assist them in building new lives.
    Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 9 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • In the Mormon church, young adult men volunteer to leave home for proselytizing missions for two years and young women serve for 18 months.
    Jillian Frankel, People.com, 26 Aug. 2025
  • Riley, a Northern California native, who has always exuded a Zen-like geniality, was part of a generation of young American composers who had turned away from audience-alienating atonal music, which had been proselytized by their teachers in the science-minded postwar academy.
    William Robin, New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Proselyte.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/proselyte. Accessed 15 Sep. 2025.

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