as in hymns
a religious song
sang a spiritual at the funeral
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Recent Examples of spirituals
The music, much of it consisting of Shaker spirituals rearranged by Daniel Blumberg (who won an Oscar for last year’s The Brutalist, directed by Fastvold’s husband and co-writer Brady Corbet), is lyrical, emotional, sometimes even angry.
—
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2025
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spirituals
Noun
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The songs themselves drew inspiration from real Shaker hymns from the 1700s.—
Barry Levitt,
Time,
10 Sep. 2025
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The group sang Christian religious hymns accompanied by a wailing violin, cello and an acoustic guitar.—
Laura Gersony,
AZCentral.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Hosts Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro then introduced the judges and couples, before starting the night's performances to each pair's anthems.—
Joelle Goldstein,
PEOPLE,
17 Sep. 2025
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The Our Song band will play German melodies, European harvest anthems and American pop hits.—
Linda Mcintosh,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Kretzmer-Seed felt strongly about the inclusion of psalms from the Hallel service as well as a Spanish-Portuguese prayer for those in captivity, which was originally written for victims of the Spanish Inquisition.—
Marla Brown Fogelman,
Sun Sentinel,
12 Aug. 2025
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In addition to memorizing the Psalms, Buz had just completed another play.—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
25 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Spirituals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spirituals. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
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