as in preacher
a person specially trained and authorized to conduct religious services in a Christian church
searched for a priest who could perform an exorcism
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of priest
Around 350 to 400 people had gathered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in downtown Spokane on Tuesday for the second night of novena, a tradition of gathering for prayer for nine days or nine weeks, when the man, identified as Joshua James Sommers, allegedly attacked the priest.
—
Megan Forrester, ABC News, 7 Feb. 2025
In 2021, the publishers of a Catholic newsletter outed a priest by apparently accessing his Grindr activity through third-party channels.
—Samantha Riedel, Them, 5 Feb. 2025
In a video message posted in December updating the Catholic Diocese of Joliet’s restructuring plan, Bishop Ron Hicks cited declining Mass attendance, smaller Sunday collections and a shortage of active parish priests in forcing tough decisions.
—Paul Eisenberg, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2025
Bruce French, the dependable character actor who did lots of work for the theater and portrayed Father Lonigan, the blind priest on the soap opera Passions who somehow could sense that evil was imminent, has died.
—Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for priest
Megan Forrester, ABC News, 7 Feb. 2025
In 2021, the publishers of a Catholic newsletter outed a priest by apparently accessing his Grindr activity through third-party channels.
—Samantha Riedel, Them, 5 Feb. 2025
In a video message posted in December updating the Catholic Diocese of Joliet’s restructuring plan, Bishop Ron Hicks cited declining Mass attendance, smaller Sunday collections and a shortage of active parish priests in forcing tough decisions.
—Paul Eisenberg, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2025
Bruce French, the dependable character actor who did lots of work for the theater and portrayed Father Lonigan, the blind priest on the soap opera Passions who somehow could sense that evil was imminent, has died.
—Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for priest
Recent Examples of Synonyms for priest
Noun
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Each celebrates a matriarch who was present at the Sunday dinners of Hall’s childhood, including her maternal grandmother, Celestine, to a close family friend, Miss Sally, to the preacher’s wife, Mrs. Brooks.—
Betsy Cribb Watson,
Southern Living,
14 Feb. 2025
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There’s also Anthony Perkins as a madman in a preacher’s robe who is obsessed with China Blue.—
Jordan Crucchiola,
Vulture,
13 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Mojtaba’s rise, or the rise of any other cleric, will thus prompt the country’s people to further pressure Tehran.—
Akbar Ganji,
Foreign Affairs,
13 Feb. 2025
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Many Christian clerics and secular rulers in western Europe believed that the popes needed to return to Rome, to distance papal authority from French influence.—
Joanne M. Pierce,
The Conversation,
28 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Ralph Fiennes plays Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, a British clergyman who is the dean of the College of Cardinals at the Vatican.—
Armond White,
National Review,
19 Feb. 2025
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The occasion marked the halfway point between the winter and spring equinoxes, with clergymen blessing used candles and handing them out to locals every February 2.—
Rachel Dobkin,
Newsweek,
2 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Jérémie attaches himself to a local bishop (Jacques Develay) in the process, sending everyone, including the village priest, into a psychosexual frenzy.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
21 Feb. 2025
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The Holy Father has clearly identified for the U.S. bishops and Church the protection and advocacy for the dignity of migrants as the preeminent urgency at this moment.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
12 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The Ukrainian leader last week reportedly ordered his ministers not to sign off on any deal, saying the proposal that had been put forward was too focused on U.S. interests and offered Ukraine very little in return.—
Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
26 Feb. 2025
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Chile's interior minister Carolina Toha said the outage was caused by a transmission line failure in the country's north, ruling out a cyber attack as a cause.—
Fabian Cambero and Alexander Villegas,
USA TODAY,
26 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Declining giving and church attendance are a national phenomenon, but some on the board of deacons saw it as an existential threat.—
Frank Langfitt,
NPR,
4 Feb. 2025
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There were rabbis, imams, bishops and deacons from across the city, reflecting the diversity of the victims and New Orleans.—
Carlie Kollath Wells,
Axios,
6 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Mayall also served as a pastor for the St. Joseph Parish in Wilmette from July 2016 to December 2018, according to a separate letter sent Saturday to the Saints Joseph and Francis Xavier Parish.—
Carolyn Stein,
Chicago Tribune,
16 Feb. 2025
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The church’s pastor serves on the board of directors of Archway Communities, a local nonprofit that manages the former Johnson & Wales campus.—
Matthew Geiger,
The Denver Post,
15 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The reverend said the mayor’s leadership has been undermined by Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney General Emil Bove’s memo, which left open the possibility of reviving the mayor’s case at a later date.—
Josephine Stratman,
New York Daily News,
11 Feb. 2025
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President Trump said Tuesday the prayer service for his inauguration, when the reverend called on him to have mercy on transgender children and immigrant families, wasn’t too exciting.—
Alex Gangitano,
The Hill,
21 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Priest.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/priest. Accessed 2 Mar. 2025.
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