as in recruit
a person who has recently been persuaded to join a religious sect
an adult proselyte who had only recently been baptized
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in to convert
to persuade to change to one's religious faith
she's been trying to proselyte everyone in the office ever since she joined that church
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 proselyte
James Romm,
WSJ,
17 Dec. 2021
Rashi concludes that the text, therefore, must refer to a ger, a proselyte, who has died leaving no next of kin among the Jewish People.
—
Rabbi Avi Weiss,
sun-sentinel.com,
17 May 2021
Kitselman also became a proselyte for the history of Waterford, helping to create educational programming at the town’s Second Street School.
—
Washington Post,
17 Mar. 2021
Enter proselytes in acetate eyeglasses and Rosie Pope workwear, drawn by listservs like Brooklynitos and Fort Greene Kids and BoCoCa Moms (BoCoCa being an acronym for three adjacent Brooklyn neighborhoods).
—
Sonja Sharp,
latimes.com,
27 June 2018
Frank Racioppi,
Forbes.com,
8 June 2026
Noun
Seneca went on to become a proselyte for the Stoic path, extolling its benefits in a long run of prose essays while also serving—in some eyes, dishonorably—as an adviser to Nero.
—
James Romm,
WSJ,
17 Dec. 2021
Rashi concludes that the text, therefore, must refer to a ger, a proselyte, who has died leaving no next of kin among the Jewish People.
—
Rabbi Avi Weiss,
sun-sentinel.com,
17 May 2021
Kitselman also became a proselyte for the history of Waterford, helping to create educational programming at the town’s Second Street School.
—
Washington Post,
17 Mar. 2021
Enter proselytes in acetate eyeglasses and Rosie Pope workwear, drawn by listservs like Brooklynitos and Fort Greene Kids and BoCoCa Moms (BoCoCa being an acronym for three adjacent Brooklyn neighborhoods).
—
Sonja Sharp,
latimes.com,
27 June 2018
Verb
In the last year, non-podcast media and podcast networks eager to capitalize on video to enhance their bottom line have been proselyting for video like telemarketers trying to hawk extended car warranties.
—
Frank Racioppi,
Forbes.com,
8 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for proselyte
Noun
-
Currently, the recruiting cycle is in a period in which recruits haven’t been able to make campus visits.
-
Four recruits have been hospitalized, according to Castro and a source with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to talk to the press.
Verb
-
There are nods to the environmental devastation wrought by the cattle industry that dominated Southern California in the first half of the 19th century, as well as the Faustian bargain struck by Indigenous people who converted to Catholicism.
-
Mark Ford Rosemary Tonks emulated French Symbolist poets before converting to Christianity and renouncing all her own works.
Noun
-
In a city whose most iconic statue is a testament to its openness to newcomers, teams from Cape Verde to Paraguay to Congo found local fans and international visitors found compatriots.
-
Many rural areas in the Midwest had a similar share of immigrants in 1910, but newcomers to the cities tended to be from novel sources like Russia or Italy.
Verb
-
Ask him to stop sending you videos and other material from his faith and generally stop trying to proselytize you.
-
Related Stories For decades, mainstream Hollywood entertainment generally shied away from environmental themes out of concern that audiences would see it as homework, or even worse, as proselytizing.
Cite this Entry
“Proselyte.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/proselyte. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
