as in lesson
a public speech usually by a member of the clergy for the purpose of giving moral guidance or uplift
a sermon whose message was that we should love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves
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Recent Examples of sermon
Kish won’t use magic during sermons.
—
Denise Crosby, Chicago Tribune, 5 Apr. 2026
Separately, Sarah Mullally, the archbishop of Canterbury and the first woman to head the Church of England, delivered her first Easter sermon at Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday.
—Reuters, NBC news, 5 Apr. 2026
When Buchdahl gave the sermon, Israel and Hamas had not yet reached an agreement to stop the Gaza war.
—Eyal Press, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
The homily during the liturgy of the Word marks the archbishop’s first sermon as archbishop.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sermon
Denise Crosby, Chicago Tribune, 5 Apr. 2026
Separately, Sarah Mullally, the archbishop of Canterbury and the first woman to head the Church of England, delivered her first Easter sermon at Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday.
—Reuters, NBC news, 5 Apr. 2026
When Buchdahl gave the sermon, Israel and Hamas had not yet reached an agreement to stop the Gaza war.
—Eyal Press, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
The homily during the liturgy of the Word marks the archbishop’s first sermon as archbishop.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for sermon
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sermon
Noun
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McMahon had a career’s worth of lessons in the virtues of bombast, and also in the dangers of it.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
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And through all of her time spent in France over the years, she’s picked up a lesson that helps make her frequent travel a little more streamlined.—
Alexandra Schonfeld,
PEOPLE,
19 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Those include ConversationRelay, which aims to generate human-like speech that connects to large-language models like ChatGPT, as well as a product called Conversational Intelligence.—
Liz Napolitano,
CNBC,
22 Apr. 2026
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Mario Lopez takes the podium for a speech at the Boys and Girls Club of America event in Las Vegas on April 7.—
Katie Hill,
PEOPLE,
22 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Leo used his homily at Mass in the Monaco stadium to do just that, urging the faithful to reject the type of idolatry that has enslaved people in cycles of war and injustice.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
29 Mar. 2026
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Beneath the metallic veneer, though, her songs had the tenderness and precision of a homily.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Monday’s lecture was a bit more heartfelt.—
Erin Vanderhoof,
Vanity Fair,
21 Apr. 2026
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Like Secretary Shultz, Stan never once sat me down to give a lecture.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
21 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sermon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sermon. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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