How to Use pagan in a Sentence

pagan

1 of 2 noun
  • Why would pagans want a coin with a Christian on it?
    — Sarah Durn, Popular Science, 8 Apr. 2026
  • In the Book of Acts, the pagans of Athens gathered to hear the gospel preached by Paul.
    — Brooke L. Rollins, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Sep. 2025
  • The crowds, many dressed as druids and pagans, had gathered before dawn, waiting patiently in the dark and cold field in southwest England.
    — CBS News, 21 Dec. 2025
  • Whatever the explanation, thousands of people, many dressed as druids and pagans, will gather at the site on Sunday to see the sun rise.
    — ABC News, 17 June 2026
  • The pagans believed eggs symbolized fertility and birth.
    — Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2026
  • Samhain is also celebrated in Salem by the local pagan and witch communities, who often share their traditions with curious out-of-towners.
    — Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 18 Oct. 2025
  • The characters here, though, are nowhere near so smart as those conniving pagans and can only dream of outwitting the sophisticated folk from the mainland, coming there with their talk of cake, and comfy chairs, and their lies.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 22 Jan. 2026
  • For someone like me, brought up Catholic, mortal sin has remained the secret par excellence, a pagan custom, delicious in its dark-ness and all the human incomprehension that surrounds it.
    — Literary Hub, 31 Mar. 2026
  • In pagan and other pre-Christian traditions, legends arose of mythical beings who emerged during the long nights around the solstice to dole out more extreme punishments to those who weren't on their best behavior.
    — Carlie Procell, USA Today, 20 Dec. 2025
  • Doctors faced the risk of being lumped together with those who dealt in sorcery and pagan folklore, a real possibility given that the men who composed the Greek medical canon were pagans themselves.
    — Meg Leja, The Conversation, 2 Nov. 2023
  • The Church of the Assumption, which sits atop the tiny island, is the fifth house of worship to occupy this spot — which was originally the site of an eighth-century Slavic pagan temple.
    — Tribune Content Agency, Baltimore Sun, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Sometimes he was described as a modern-day Cyrus, a Persian king and a pagan in the Hebrew Bible whom God nevertheless anointed and would use for his purposes.
    — Peter Wehner, The Atlantic, 10 June 2026
  • Other cultures had similar variations of a dark helper, like the Alpine pagans’ Perchten and the Palatinate region’s Belsnickel.
    — Angelika Ytuarte, jsonline.com, 5 Dec. 2025
  • Among those cut was the Unitarian Universalist Association (others were atheists, pagans and Wiccans).
    — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 11 June 2026
  • According to the Pew Research Center, historically between one-third and one-half of Americans observe this pagan rite every year by making their own New Year’s resolutions.
    — Bhumika Tharoor, The Atlantic, 30 Dec. 2025
  • Valentine's Day pagan connections One of the most common explanations is that Valentine's Day has its origins in the ancient Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia.
    — Marina Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 29 Jan. 2026
  • Valentine's Day pagan connections One of the most common explanations is that Valentine's Day has its origins in the ancient Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia.
    — Marina Johnson, IndyStar, 5 Feb. 2026
  • Valentine's Day pagan connections Lupercalia was a debaucherous festival that celebrated the coming of spring that included animal sacrifices and drunken revelry to honor Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, and the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
    — Kate Perez, USA Today, 11 Feb. 2026

pagan

2 of 2 adjective
  • Summons the pagan sprit of Excel art.
    — Emily Temple, Literary Hub, 11 Dec. 2025
  • The pagan Martial enjoyed the sight.
    — Literary Hub, 15 Apr. 2026
  • Groundhog Day is its pagan echo — a reading of light and shadow, an old way of guessing at spring.
    — Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Wild rhythms evoke the rupture of that earth, making way for the pagan rituals that herald the arrival of spring.
    — Luis Palomares, Miami Herald, 27 Feb. 2026
  • Church leaders understood these views to be heretical or pagan, reflecting pride and a lack of gratitude to God.
    — Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 4 Aug. 2025
  • Just before the combine, though, Cam, while practicing alone at night, is struck in the head by a strange pagan spirit-slash-mascot that emerges out of the shadows.
    — Jake Coyle, Boston Herald, 19 Sep. 2025
  • From pagan spirits to Wonder Woman, take a look at a brief history of this holiday’s costumes.
    — Sarah Hutter, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
  • These wooden churches were once common across the country, built when Christianity was still new and pagan traditions lingered.
    — David Nikel, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
  • For example, the tradition of Easter eggs stems from pre-Christian pagan traditions, per the outlet.
    — Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2026
  • Glenn Turner, the former owner of a pagan and metaphysical shop, is running as a member of the Green Party.
    — Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026
  • Warily establishing themselves in a new settlement, where the husband gets work carving an idol for a pagan temple, they are initially welcomed.
    — Dennis Harvey, Variety, 12 Nov. 2025
  • Brush up on the history of Mardi Gras Mardi Gras has roots in Roman and pagan traditions.
    — Jenny Adams, AFAR Media, 30 Dec. 2025
  • The History Blog noted that King Knut led campaigns against pagan groups to spread Christianity.
    — Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 12 Oct. 2025
  • Solstices are often associated with pagan religions and draw revelers of different faiths.
    — Julia Gomez, USA Today, 20 June 2026
  • Solstices are often associated with pagan religions and draw revelers of different faiths.
    — Julia Gomez, USA Today, 14 June 2026
  • At the bottom of the composition is the figure of Charon, a personage from Greek mythology who rowed souls over the river Styx to enter the pagan underworld.
    — Virginia Raguin, The Conversation, 19 Feb. 2026
  • The image of Christ is inspired by early Christian images showing Christ beardless and youthful, similar to the pagan god of light, Apollo.
    — Virginia Raguin, The Conversation, 19 Feb. 2026
  • The area Life is decidedly unhurried in this part of the world, where the sunkissed monte landscape is punctuated by cork, olive, and oak trees, wild horses frolic in meadows, and huge granite dolmens hint at a pagan past.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Apr. 2026
  • Doctors faced the risk of being lumped together with those who dealt in sorcery and pagan folklore, a real possibility given that the men who composed the Greek medical canon were pagans themselves.
    — Meg Leja, The Conversation, 2 Nov. 2023
  • Michelangelo, however, pushes beyond simple illustration to include pagan myths as well as to challenge traditional depiction of a calm, bearded judge.
    — Virginia Raguin, The Conversation, 19 Feb. 2026
  • When a rigid, devoutly Christian cop (Edward Woodward) arrives in search of a missing girl, he's horrified by the island's embrace of pagan rituals.
    — Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Oct. 2025
  • Some 30,000 faithful gathered outside the pagan monument, following the stations as they were recited over loudspeakers.
    — CBS News, 3 Apr. 2026
  • By this time, the eastern Roman empire, where Zosimus lived, had been fairly thoroughly Christianized, but Zosimus was a pagan hostile to Christianity.
    — Literary Hub, 10 Oct. 2025
  • For decades, the Georgia Guidestones were nothing more than kitschy roadside Americana – a curiosity people visited for fun, intrigue, and the occasional pagan ritual.
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 21 Apr. 2026
  • The group – which touts itself as a pagan collective that worships Norse gods – also took credit for originally catapulting Springfield onto the national stage by amplifying ugly memes about the Haitians.
    — Caitlin Hu, CNN Money, 20 Feb. 2026
  • Over the course of that months-long reporting, a picture has emerged of the radical characters involved with the property, including a notorious neo-Nazi family and a pagan mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter.
    — Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 15 Dec. 2025
  • This pagan tradition took place on October 31 when the Celts believed the veil between the physical world and the spirit realm was thinnest, with ceremonial fires and rituals taking place to mark the conclusion of one pastoral year, and the entry into the next.
    — Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 18 Oct. 2025
  • The History of Hanukkah More than 2,000 years ago, Antiochus, a cruel ruler of the Greek Kingdom, imposed pagan beliefs on the Jewish people.
    — Holly Rizzuto Palker, Parents, 14 Dec. 2025
  • Both Leader and Walton’s works saw a rise in popularity in the 70s as many women became interested in pagan religions, which often depicted female mythological figures as powerful and complex.
    — Literary Hub, 22 Oct. 2025
  • There’s more than a tinge of folk horror to this lingering mystery, which brings to mind the 1973 genre landmark The Wicker Man, in which a puritanical police officer travels to a remote island community that’s reverted to old pagan ways.
    — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 15 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pagan.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: