as in priest
a person specially trained and authorized to conduct religious services in a Christian church
my cousin was married by his uncle, who is also a deacon in his church
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 deacon
In ninth grade, a deacon at his family’s church in Columbus—a Tuskegee Airman himself—took the family out to an airfield.
—
Marie-Rose Sheinerman, The Atlantic, 24 Mar. 2026
Two thousand people are expected to attend, including numerous religious figures such as bishops, priests and deacons.
—Alexa Herrera, CBS News, 6 Feb. 2026
Early Christians cited menstruation as the reason for not allowing female deacons or priests.
—Megan Bryson, The Conversation, 5 Feb. 2026
Powell’s lawyers also introduced documentation that Lorch, who began coaching the Hawks in 1961, served on Riverside’s board of deacons and board of trustees, as well as several church committees, and that the Hawks’ basketball success was touted multiple times in Riverside’s official newsletter.
—Luke Cyphers, Sportico.com, 20 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for deacon
Marie-Rose Sheinerman, The Atlantic, 24 Mar. 2026
Two thousand people are expected to attend, including numerous religious figures such as bishops, priests and deacons.
—Alexa Herrera, CBS News, 6 Feb. 2026
Early Christians cited menstruation as the reason for not allowing female deacons or priests.
—Megan Bryson, The Conversation, 5 Feb. 2026
Powell’s lawyers also introduced documentation that Lorch, who began coaching the Hawks in 1961, served on Riverside’s board of deacons and board of trustees, as well as several church committees, and that the Hawks’ basketball success was touted multiple times in Riverside’s official newsletter.
—Luke Cyphers, Sportico.com, 20 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for deacon
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deacon
Noun
-
The concierge specializes in Kyoto’s cultural events, and can help access exclusive ochaya with an interpreter, score tickets to the theater, book dinner reservations, a huge help in Kyoto, or help arrange meetings with monks and priests at the city’s Shinto shrines and temples.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Nonbinary people have often occupied unique positions in their societies, serving as priests, artists, and ceremonial leaders.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
His father, much older than his mom, was a preacher who wanted his son to follow in his footsteps.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Moreover, as soon as Christianity began to spread outside his native land, Christian converts faced new situations in unexpected contexts, completely different from those of their founder, an itinerant Jewish preacher in the sparsely populated hinterlands of rural Galilee.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Among them was Sandra Olewine, a bishop of the United Methodist Church’s California-Nevada Conference.—
Stephen Hobbs,
Sacbee.com,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Primal Fear charts the story of a Chicago defense attorney who believes that his altar boy client is not guilty of murdering a Catholic bishop.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The pompous clergyman enters the life of the Bennet family, his distant cousins, with the assumption that, given his respectable position and benefactor, Lady Catherine De Bourgh, one of those daughters would be happy to marry him.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
-
Garage owner and keen early automobilist Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan, the son of a rural English clergyman, built his first car, an eponymous prototype, in 1909.—
Jamie Kitman,
Air Mail,
21 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The pastor said that over the past decade or so, the church has sent thousands of illicit Bibles in Farsi to Iran with a WhatsApp number written inside, so the retriever overseas can call or text for more information.—
Angie Leventis Lourgos,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Stephen Mitchell is the senior pastor of Trinity Bible Church in Severna Park.—
Stephen Mitchell,
Baltimore Sun,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Deacon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deacon. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
