one of a class of spiritual beings; a celestial attendant of God. In medieval angelology, angels constituted the lowest of the nine celestial orders (seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominations or dominions, virtues, powers, principalities or princedoms, archangels, and angels).
a conventional representation of such a being, in human form, with wings, usually in white robes.
a messenger, especially of God.
a person who performs a mission of God or acts as if sent by God.
an angel of mercy.
a person having qualities generally attributed to an angel, as beauty, purity, or kindliness.
a person whose actions and thoughts are consistently virtuous.
an attendant or guardian spirit.
a deceased person whose soul is regarded as having been accepted into heaven.
a person who provides financial backing for some undertaking, as a play, political campaign, or business venture.
A group of angels entered the mix, providing George the leverage he needed to take the startup company in a new direction.
Angels seek deals that they can exit in less than a decade.
an English gold coin issued from 1470 to 1634, varying in value from 6s. 8d. to 10s. and bearing on its obverse a figure of the archangel Michael killing a dragon.
Slang. an image on a radar screen caused by a low-flying object, as a bird.
theol one of a class of spiritual beings attendant upon God. In medieval angelology they are divided by rank into nine orders: seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominations (or dominions), virtues, powers, principalities (or princedoms), archangels, and angels
a divine messenger from God
a guardian spirit
a conventional representation of any of these beings, depicted in human form with wings
informal a person, esp a woman, who is kind, pure, or beautiful
informal an investor in a venture, esp a backer of a theatrical production
Also called: angel-noble. a former English gold coin with a representation of the archangel Michael on it, first minted in Edward IV's reign
informal an unexplained signal on a radar screen
Spelling tips for angel The word angel is hard to spell for two reasons. First, it is very close in spelling to angle, as in the space between two lines that meet at a point. Second, the beginning sound [ eyn ] is not spelled the way it sounds. How to spell angel: The first letter of angel is a, not e, because Angels are Amazing. The way to remember that angel ends in an l is that both devil and angel are celestial beings, and they both end in l. Similarly, angle and line are both mathematics terms, and they both end in e.
First recorded before 950; 1890–95 angel for def. 9; Middle English a(u)ngel, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Late Latin angelus, from New Testament Greek ángelos “messenger of God,” special use of Greek ángelos “messenger” (to translate Hebrew mal'ākh ), of disputed origin, frequently connected to ángaros “Persian mounted courier,” suggesting derivation from an uncertain source possibly akin to Akkadian agâru “to hire” or egertu “letter,” Persian angareh “journal, narrative,” or Sanskrit ajira “swift”; replacing Old English engel, from Latin, as above
An angel is a messenger of God, characterized as having human form with wings and a halo. The word suggests goodness, and is often used to refer to someone who offers comfort and aid to others in times of trouble. As a child, you looked like an innocent angel; appearances can be deceiving. The word angel derives from the Greek angelos, meaning "messenger." It is used in the Bible to denote God's attendants, with angels often depicted as being guardians of humans, an idea found in ancient Asian cultures as well. The Biblical sense was continued in a medieval gold coin called an angel, which depicted the archangel Michael. The word has been applied to angel fish, so named because they appear to have wings, and nurses, often called "angels of mercy."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"He has the voice of an angel," said Jose Luis.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
He flies like an avenging angel, holding a candle in one hand and grapes in the other.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
When the angel warned him of danger, St. Joseph didn’t deliberate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
In some clips, women wrap their husbands in angel wings, symbolically shielding them from harm.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
According to legend, the angel Gabriel told him, “Recite!”
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
"We are running short of bread. There was no fresh bread today because the bakeries are closed," Miguel Angel Campana, a municipal street cleaner in Ceuta, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Chief Executive Steve Angel said the company’s railroaders were able to successfully manage substantial volume growth while maintaining focus on safety and productivity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
"Tonight we sing about love," he told the crowd after Treasure, before introducing the Angel Baby Cam, a segment in which fans' reactions were projected onto the giant screens as he serenaded them.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
After setting out from a marina in the San Francisco Bay Area, they passed under the Golden Gate Bridge to the Pacific Ocean and across the San Francisco Bay to Angel Island.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
In giving me my name, my parents had deprived the Angel of Death of his rightful due.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
“There’s a lot of absurdity and comedy here,” she says, pointing out the Spanish angels with guns, a series of artworks from the 1600s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Children arrived naughty and finished like angels, full of ideas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
And after spending years appealing to Butcher’s better angels, Hughie ultimately serves as his mentor’s final restraint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
In the message, recorded before the crash, Javed described a dream: two angels had come for him and, before taking him away, bathed him in a fragrance that smelled of roses.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
But Jam trusted her mother for those brutal truths, and that’s why home was the first place she brought the books with the angels in them.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
Through his second largest philanthropy, the General Education Board, he angeled Progressive Education.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions 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.
