missionaries

noun

plural of missionary
as in missioners
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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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 missionaries Elsewhere near Ensenada, Mexican soldiers used helicopters to rescue 32 people, including 13 minors, from Rancho Genesis, a camp for orphans staffed by missionaries. — ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026 William Catto brought his family north to Baltimore with plans to eventually travel to Liberia as missionaries. — Timothy Welbeck, The Conversation, 13 Oct. 2026 Boza shared that missionaries from the Basel Mission, which was active in Cameroon starting in the 19th century, played a role in building Swiss museum collections. — News Desk, Artforum, 2 Oct. 2026 The native people of this region were not wiped out by smallpox and instead established an independent kingdom that blends a traditional monarchy with Catholicism, thanks to the efforts of some earlier missionaries. — John Warner, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2026 The coding missionaries of the twenty-tens made errors both practical and philosophical. — Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2026 The organization drew international attention in 2021, when 17 of its missionaries were kidnapped on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince by the 400 Mawozo gang. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 15 Sep. 2026 Visiting missionaries fill tribal members’ gas tanks and replace their sagging roofs. — Savannah Peters, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026 In 2008, about 18,400 African missionaries had served abroad, according to one estimate. — Nimi Princewill, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for missionaries
  1. missioners
  2. soldiers
  3. priests
  4. monks
Noun
  • In 1976, the residence was redesigned as a retirement home for church missioners.
    — George Avalos, Mercury News, 10 June 2026
Definition of missioners
Noun
  • The discovery raises the possibility of a grim outcome in the search for the four men, which has led to El Salvador deploying 450 special forces soldiers to Haiti as of Friday to aid the gang-fighting force in the search.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 25 Oct. 2026
  • In May 2024, The War Zone examined Chinese state television video showing soldiers taking cover from first-person-view (FPV) drones, using a net-catching projectile, and demonstrating a handheld jammer.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of soldiers
Noun
  • In an email sent to priests of the archdiocese on Saturday afternoon and shared with NPR, Archbishop Ronald Hicks also said the deal had not yet been signed but that an agreement had been reached with plaintiffs and their attorneys.
    — Chandelis Duster, NPR, 24 Oct. 2026
  • The Georgetown initiative focuses on descendants of slaves sold by Georgetown's Jesuit priests to slaveholders in Louisiana.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of priests
Noun
  • Two monks sustained serious injuries, and one monk lost part of his leg as a result of the crash.
    — Jasmine Baehr, FOXNews.com, 10 Feb. 2026
Definition of monks

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Cite this Entry

“Missionaries.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/missionaries. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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