as in missioner
a person who is sent especially to a foreign country to do religious work (such as converting people to the religion or ministering to the sick)
The missionaries sent to the island were ultimately unsuccessful in converting the native residents.
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as in apostolic
relating to missionaries or their work
The church organizes missionary trips to a variety of countries.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of missionary
Literary Hub, 29 May 2025
His grandparents were Christian missionaries in Jamaica, which led to his mother rebelling against religion when she was sent to boarding school.
—Alison Coleman, Forbes.com, 16 July 2025
Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 6 July 2025
Central among them are questions about the role of women, the exercise of power in the church hierarchy and the move to a more missionary church that gets out of its comfort zone.
—Christopher Lamb, CNN Money, 11 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for missionary
Noun
My family is Sri Lankan Tamil from Northern Sri Lanka, where there were Christian Catholic missionaries.
—Literary Hub, 29 May 2025
His grandparents were Christian missionaries in Jamaica, which led to his mother rebelling against religion when she was sent to boarding school.
—Alison Coleman, Forbes.com, 16 July 2025
Adjective
That era began with the arrival of a Danish-Norwegian Lutheran missionary priest named Hans Egede in 1721.
—Kim Hjelmgaard, USA Today, 6 July 2025
Central among them are questions about the role of women, the exercise of power in the church hierarchy and the move to a more missionary church that gets out of its comfort zone.
—Christopher Lamb, CNN Money, 11 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for missionary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for missionary
Noun
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Kelley Hudlow, missioner for clergy formation for the diocese, told NBC affiliate WVTM of Birmingham soon after the shooting that church leaders were trying to learn more.—
Phil Helsel,
NBC News,
17 June 2022
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Eby will continue to serve as outreach missioner at the Church of the Nativity and as priest-in-charge at St. Timothy’s Church in Athens.—
al,
al,
1 Dec. 2020
Adjective
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Echoing this sentiment of finding hope in La Virgen de la Puerta, Pope Francis, during his apostolic journey to Peru, crowned La Virgen de la Puerta and gave her the title of Mother of Mercy and Hope.—
Caitlin Cipolla-McCulloch,
The Conversation,
29 May 2025
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Francis chose to live in the humble Santa Marta guest house, not the apostolic palace.—
Howard Chua-Eoan,
Mercury News,
22 Apr. 2025
Noun
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What may have been a Roman soldier's monthly paycheck has emerged from under the ground, officials announced this month.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
31 July 2025
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An action-adventure flick directed by J.C. Chandor for Netflix, Triple Frontier follows a group of former special-ops soldiers who — feeling financially undervalued for their years spent in military service — decide to get what's rightfully theirs by robbing a drug lord.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
31 July 2025
Adjective
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Though the effort has religious roots, the mission of Lives Transformed isn’t explicitly evangelical.—
Noah Lyons,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 July 2025
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To make the case for the bill, Campbell invited conservative evangelical pastor Rafael Cruz, the father of Texas Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.—
Bayliss Wagner,
Austin American Statesman,
30 July 2025
Noun
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And, over time, fewer new European priests arrived in Kongo, making translation less necessary.—
Livia Gershon,
JSTOR Daily,
12 July 2025
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One particular enemy of Gauguin’s was Bishop Martin, a Catholic priest on Hiva Oa who did his best to stomp out local custom, forbidding tattooing, Polynesian dancing, and the customary practice of polyandry.—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
11 July 2025
Noun
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In February, Shi led a delegation of monks from the Shaolin Temple to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis.—
Nectar Gan,
CNN Money,
28 July 2025
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Steger had long admired the late Trappist monk and mystic Thomas Merton, who once lived there.—
Jeanette Hurt,
Forbes.com,
19 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Missionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/missionary. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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