altar boy
Americannoun
-
altar boys
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of altar boy
First recorded in 1765–75
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A former altar boy, he grew up as one of seven children in Nairobi informal settlements, and his parents scraped together enough to send him to school and university, where he studied criminology.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Scorsese grew up in New York’s Little Italy as a Catholic altar boy and aspiring priest who was also fascinated by the mafiosos that loomed large in his community.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
Born in Chicago in 1955 to parents of Spanish and Franco-Italian descent, Prevost served as an altar boy and was ordained as a priest in 1982.
From BBC ● May 8, 2025
“I still feel like the altar boy who is goofing on the priest,” he insists.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2024
He knocks at the sacristy door and tells Stephen Carey,This is my son, Frank, who knows the Latin and is ready to be an altar boy.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
