as in friar
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Recent Examples of oblate
The new archbishop is an associate member [oblate] of Pluscarden Abbey, a Benedictine community in Scotland, and is known as an able administrator who took decisions to re-organize the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton.
—
Christopher Lamb, CNN Money, 19 Dec. 2025
Sister Lydia Maria described to the women the duties of an oblate, such as saying prayers for people who request them.
—Lawrence Wright, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
As a result, the Earth's normal oblate shape, resembling a somewhat flattened sphere bulging at the equator, is flattening even more, Adhikari said.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 15 July 2024
In the north, Solomon knew, young oblates, the cherished daughters of gentlewomen, were given to the Lord out of the ranks of the nobility.
—Cynthia Ozick, Harper’s Magazine , 10 Apr. 2023
But Earth is an oblate spheroid, meaning a 3D shape created by an ellipsis that’s rotating around its shorter axis—like a more rounded jelly donut.
—Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 12 Feb. 2020
This was unexpected at Jupiter—a heavy, fast rotating, oblate (flattened at the poles) planet.
—Andrew Coates, Newsweek, 8 Mar. 2018
Christopher Lamb, CNN Money, 19 Dec. 2025
Sister Lydia Maria described to the women the duties of an oblate, such as saying prayers for people who request them.
—Lawrence Wright, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
As a result, the Earth's normal oblate shape, resembling a somewhat flattened sphere bulging at the equator, is flattening even more, Adhikari said.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 15 July 2024
In the north, Solomon knew, young oblates, the cherished daughters of gentlewomen, were given to the Lord out of the ranks of the nobility.
—Cynthia Ozick, Harper’s Magazine , 10 Apr. 2023
But Earth is an oblate spheroid, meaning a 3D shape created by an ellipsis that’s rotating around its shorter axis—like a more rounded jelly donut.
—Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 12 Feb. 2020
This was unexpected at Jupiter—a heavy, fast rotating, oblate (flattened at the poles) planet.
—Andrew Coates, Newsweek, 8 Mar. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for oblate
Noun
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Nearly 500 years before, a Franciscan friar arrived in what is now the state of Jalisco carrying a 13-inch icon of the Virgin Mary that had been molded by Indigenous craftsmen from a paste of corn pith and orchid bulbs.—
Franklin Leonard,
Vanity Fair,
14 May 2026
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As the first year of Leo’s historic pontificate comes to a close, the longtime missionary and Augustinian friar remains a stalwart champion of migrants, the poor and care for the environment, a trinity of issues at the core of his ministry.—
Angie Leventis Lourgos,
Chicago Tribune,
6 May 2026
Noun
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These people who see the theater as almost a monastic calling something of a higher order, and they’re brilliantly educated and funny.—
Caitlin Huston,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Oct. 2025
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As the numbers of women at the highest echelons of learning continue to grow, women will likewise expand their ability to take leadership roles in their monastic and lay communities – helping to improve other nuns’ education and protecting Tibetan culture in the process.—
Darcie Price-Wallace,
The Conversation,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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There’s no record of Caedmon jotting the poem down himself—but records of it can be found in copies of a history of Christianity in England written by the Venerable Bede, an English monk and scholar, called the Ecclesiastical History of the English People.—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen,
Scientific American,
18 May 2026
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Even heritage British shoemakers, renowned for robust brogues and monk straps, delved into sleek leather and suede iterations.—
Michael Stefanov,
Robb Report,
18 May 2026
Noun
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Throughout much of Buddhist history, and particularly in Theravada Buddhist contexts, mindfulness and its associated meditation methods have been the purview of mendicants (monks and nuns), who used mindfulness meditation to achieve trance states (jhana) leading to nirvana.—
Charles Preston,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
30 Apr. 2026
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An internationally famous leader who lived a mendicant’s life.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Of all the precious goods accumulated by the rulers and ecclesiastics of late medieval Ethiopia, the most charged of all were books.—
Peter Brown,
The New York Review of Books,
24 Sep. 2020
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This shop for ecclesiastics has an exquisite selection of high-quality pieces.—
Zoe Ruffner,
Vogue,
19 Dec. 2019
Noun
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Pollio was living in Sebring and was a deacon at his church there, his father said.—
Angie DiMichele,
Sun Sentinel,
8 May 2026
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While women cannot be ordained as priests or deacons, they are not forbidden from teaching the faith as theologians, catechists and scholars.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
2 May 2026
Noun
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The reverend in charge of the largest cathedral in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh has resigned after being arrested and accused of stealing more than $1,000 worth of baseball trading cards.—
Andy Sheehan,
CBS News,
16 Mar. 2026
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa thanked the late reverend for his work to end South Africa’s apartheid system.—
Matt Brown,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The girls follow his trail of tears to Divine (Erika Alexander), a charismatic preacher still in the carnal thrall of her time with their father.—
Katie Walsh,
Boston Herald,
15 May 2026
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Far from being a fringe belief system, masculinism has become the single most important force uniting the American right, bringing together an unlikely constellation of pastors, posters, senators, preachers, influencers, podcasters, and fanboys.—
Helen Lewis,
The Atlantic,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Oblate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/oblate. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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