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, Literary Hub, 6 Jan. 2026
In the Netflix documentary, Evil Influencer, one of her fellow missionaries described Hildebrandt as a former beauty queen and basketball athlete who successfully convinced several people to convert to the LDS faith.
—Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 31 Dec. 2025
Bright Simons, semafor.com, 8 Dec. 2025
The Ellinikon Marina, also named Agios Kosmas in honor of 18th-century monk and missionary Saint Kosmas, will help cement the ancient city as one of Europe’s premier yachting destinations.
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 26 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for missionary
Noun
Korean Messiah follows not only the family that rose to absolute power in Pyongyang, but also an American Presbyterian missionary who built a fervent following in the early 19th century.
—Adjective
Aid now flows according to a worldview that is part-mercantilist, part-missionary, and wholly transactional.
—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.—
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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.—
Adjective
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The ceremony will be presided over by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States.—
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Pope Leo at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa on Monday, the second day of his apostolic visit to Lebanon.—
Noun
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Earlier this year, the Israeli military retrieved the body of another soldier who was killed in the 2014 war.—
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Just off the Gregory House, a trail leads to the Hammock Landing Battery, where Confederate soldiers guarded the river from attack, protecting their manufacturing hub in Columbus, Georgia.—
Adjective
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The famous evangelical pastor Billy Graham visited Israel in the 1960s.—
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Then came the funeral of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, which WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan correctly called the largest evangelical event in America since the heyday of evangelist Billy Graham — but this time, one featuring top Republican brass.—
Noun
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Post, a lawyer, said other professions, such as attorneys and psychologists, have confidentiality rules like those of priests and pastors, but there is a difference between them.—
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In response, the provincial governor, Juan de Oñate, consulted with Franciscan priests and then ordered a counterattack.—
Noun
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He had been dressed as a monk for Halloween weekend, with a hooded robe, but Rachel Kelly said he was found shirtless in his sweatpants.—
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Writing about 200 years after Fibonacci, the monk Luca Pacioli (who taught mathematics to both Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer) described the ‘Italian’ approach to bookkeeping.—
Cite this Entry
“Missionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/missionary. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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