as in clergyman
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Recent Examples of deaconess
Then in 1964, Parks became a deaconess in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
—
Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
Born in a homestead just north of the D.C. border in 1930 and 1933, the brothers were raised in historic St. Phillips Baptist Church, where their father was an associate minister and their mother a deaconess.
—Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024
The Pauline epistles contain numerous references to women who were instrumental in the leadership of the early church: Phoebe, a deaconess; Chloe; Apphia; Euodia; Nympha; Junia.
—Cressida Leyshon, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023
In her younger years, Webb was an avid churchgoer in Baltimore, Maryland alongside her father, a deacon, and her mother, a deaconess, who met in a church choir.
—Robyn Mowatt, ELLE, 22 June 2023
Welcome to the Rehearsal Club, an artist residency and the one-year-old reincarnation of a nonprofit organization founded in 1913 by Jane Harriss Hall, an Episcopal deaconess, and Jean Greer, the daughter of New York’s Episcopal bishop.
—Joanne Kaufman, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2023
More recently, a Nov. 15, 2021 issue of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel noted that in 2017, Israeli archaeologists uncovered stones and mosaics memorializing Theodosia the deaconess and Gregoria the deaconess in the ruins of a 1,600-year-old basilica in Ashdod.
—Susan Degrane, chicagotribune.com, 30 Mar. 2022
Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
Born in a homestead just north of the D.C. border in 1930 and 1933, the brothers were raised in historic St. Phillips Baptist Church, where their father was an associate minister and their mother a deaconess.
—Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024
The Pauline epistles contain numerous references to women who were instrumental in the leadership of the early church: Phoebe, a deaconess; Chloe; Apphia; Euodia; Nympha; Junia.
—Cressida Leyshon, The New Yorker, 31 July 2023
In her younger years, Webb was an avid churchgoer in Baltimore, Maryland alongside her father, a deacon, and her mother, a deaconess, who met in a church choir.
—Robyn Mowatt, ELLE, 22 June 2023
Welcome to the Rehearsal Club, an artist residency and the one-year-old reincarnation of a nonprofit organization founded in 1913 by Jane Harriss Hall, an Episcopal deaconess, and Jean Greer, the daughter of New York’s Episcopal bishop.
—Joanne Kaufman, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2023
More recently, a Nov. 15, 2021 issue of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel noted that in 2017, Israeli archaeologists uncovered stones and mosaics memorializing Theodosia the deaconess and Gregoria the deaconess in the ruins of a 1,600-year-old basilica in Ashdod.
—Susan Degrane, chicagotribune.com, 30 Mar. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deaconess
Noun
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Meanwhile, cousin Edmund, an aspiring clergyman, falls under the charms of Mary Crawford, written by Austen as a charming but immoral woman.—
Emily Zarevich,
JSTOR Daily,
11 Sep. 2025
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Blanc seeks to interview alongside another clergyman (O'Connor, 35).—
Tommy McArdle,
People.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Seer: Big-budget historical epic following the Trojan priestess Cassandra and her lover Apollo.—
Vulture Staff,
Vulture,
15 July 2025
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One of the exciting new discoveries includes new information regarding Babylonian women–many were priestesses.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
2 July 2025
Noun
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In February, state troopers violently broke up a march for suffrage, resulting in the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, a church deacon protecting his family.—
Time,
Time,
12 Sep. 2025
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Dorantes has served as a deacon at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, associate pastor of St. Clement Church in the Lincoln Park neighborhood and pastor of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in the Brighton Park neighborhood.—
Angie Leventis Lourgos,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The bishop had no recollection of meeting Wilson’s husband.—
Sophia Tiedge,
jsonline.com,
11 Sep. 2025
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The Christian city was a significant bishop's seat in the region during the Byzantine era.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
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This would be the case also for an apostate, heretic, schismatic bishop, presbyter, or deacon.—
Fr. Goran Jovicic,
National Review,
13 June 2021
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The Rev. Allen D. Timm, executive presbyter of the Presbytery Church in Detroit, said the church is waiting to hear from the general assembly as to when volunteers will be dispatched to Houston.—
Allie Gross,
Detroit Free Press,
29 Aug. 2017
Noun
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News reports chronicle backlash against a MSNBC analyst, a Middle Tennessee State University assistant dean of students, a University of Mississippi employee and a communications coordinator for the Carolina Panthers.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025
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The professor promptly lost her job, and the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the head of the English department were both removed from their positions.—
Rachel Monroe,
New Yorker,
13 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Patterson, an ordained clergywoman with a background in healthcare, joined the Legislature via a special election in 2020.—
oregonlive,
oregonlive,
8 Nov. 2022
Noun
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In an area that used to produce influential Catholic churchmen the way the Dodgers churned out Rookies of the Year, Gomez has amounted to the living equivalent of a hair shirt: a mode of piety that serves no one but the wearer.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2025
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Martini was a key figure in a group of churchmen who met annually in St. Gallen, Switzerland, to ponder how best to blunt John Paul and Ratzinger’s reactionary thrust.—
Paul Elie,
The New Yorker,
26 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deaconess.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deaconess. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
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