evangelical

[ee-van-jel-i-kuhl, ev-uhn-]

adjective

1. Also evangelic. pertaining to or in keeping with the gospel and its teachings.

2. belonging to or designating the Christian churches that emphasize the teachings and authority of the Scriptures, especially of the New Testament, in opposition to the institutional authority of the church itself, and that stress as paramount the tenet that salvation is achieved by personal conversion to faith in the atonement of Christ.

3. designating Christians, especially of the late 1970s, eschewing the designation of fundamentalist but holding to a conservative interpretation of the Bible.

4. pertaining to certain movements in the Protestant churches in the 18th and 19th centuries that stressed the importance of personal experience of guilt for sin, and of reconciliation to God through Christ.

5. marked by ardent or zealous enthusiasm for a cause.

noun

1. an adherent of evangelical doctrines or a person who belongs to an evangelical church or party.

evangelical

/ ˌiːvænˈdʒɛlɪkəl /

adjective

1. of, based upon, or following from the Gospels

2. denoting or relating to any of certain Protestant sects or parties, which emphasize the importance of personal conversion and faith in atonement through the death of Christ as a means of salvation

3. another word for evangelistic

noun

1. an upholder of evangelical doctrines or a member of an evangelical sect or party, esp the Low-Church party of the Church of England

evangelical

1. A member of any of various Christian churches that believes in the sole authority of the literal Bible (see also Bible), a salvation (see also salvation) only through regeneration, or rebirth, and a spiritually transformed personal life.

Other Word Forms

• evangelically adverb
• evangelicalism noun
• evangelicalness noun
• evangelicality noun
• nonevangelic adjective
• nonevangelical adjective
• nonevangelically adverb
• pseudoevangelic adjective
• pseudoevangelical adjective
• pseudoevangelically adverb
• superevangelical adjective
• superevangelically adverb
• unevangelic adjective
• unevangelical adjective
• unevangelically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of evangelical¹

1525–35; < Late Latin evangelicus (< Late Greek euangelikós; evangel ¹, -ic ) + -al ¹

Example Sentences

Zion describes itself as a nondenominational evangelical church adhering to orthodox Christian beliefs.

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Bibi has long thought that he essentially controlled and held all the loyalty of the biggest group of pro-Israeli Americans—evangelical Christians.

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Steve Happ was packing to leave Tennessee for an evangelical mission to Uganda in 2023 when Bank of America told him it was canceling his church’s bank account and his credit cards.

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While the evangelical followers of Presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan occasionally deployed such apocalyptic language, Bush and Reagan themselves were careful to speak more ecumenically.

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But to Kaley Chiles, a Christian evangelical therapist who sued the state to be able to offer conversion therapy, internalized queerphobia is an inborn quality.

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Related Words

• pious 
• religious