evangelist
noun
a Protestant minister or layperson who serves as an itinerant or special preacher, especially a revivalist.
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evangelist
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Evangelist
Evangelistnounany of the writers of the New Testament Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John
evangelist
American
[ih-van-juh-list]
/ ɪˈvæn dʒə lɪst /
noun
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evangelists
plural
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a Protestant minister or layperson who serves as an itinerant or special preacher, especially a revivalist.
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a preacher of the gospel.
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(initial capital letter) any of the writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) of the four Gospels.
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(in the primitive church) a person who first brought the gospel to a city or region.
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(initial capital letter) a patriarch.
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a person marked by evangelical enthusiasm for or support of any cause.
evangelist
1
British
/ ɪˈvændʒɪlɪst /
noun
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an occasional preacher, sometimes itinerant and often preaching at meetings in the open air
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a preacher of the Christian gospel
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any zealous advocate of a cause
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another word for revivalist
Evangelist
2
British
/ ɪˈvændʒɪlɪst /
noun
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any of the writers of the New Testament Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John
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a senior official or dignitary of the Mormon Church
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of evangelist
1125–75; Middle English evangeliste < Latin evangelista < Greek euangelistḗs. See evangel 1, -ist
Explanation
An evangelist is a preacher, specifically a Christian preacher. Evangelists are excited to tell everyone all over the world about Christianity. If you're an evangelist, you're a Christian preacher. Unlike other religious words — such as prayer and God — this word is specifically limited to the Christian faith. With a capital e, Evangelist refers specifically to the authors of the Gospels in the New Testament. Sometimes the word is used more loosely when people say someone is an evangelist for a cause, such as vegetarianism or health care: that means they're a strong believer in and proponent of the cause.
Vocabulary lists containing evangelist
Novel Study: Things Fall Apart, Parts 2–3
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All Saints' Day
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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.
See Examples For:
A highly-popular tech evangelist who pushed for reforms, Fedorov was dismissed in July in a divisive reshuffle that triggered unprecedented protests in his support.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
She’s since become an evangelist for eating the European way, documenting her diet of primarily pasta, cookies, bread and full-fat milk and butter, on trips to France and Italy for her 223,000 followers on Instagram.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
“He became an evangelist for the game because he thought it was a game that this country would appreciate,” says Katerina.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Which is how, after years of culinary self-improvement, I found myself becoming an evangelist for some of the least glamorous products in the grocery store.
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026
A few people who had fainted were being revived on the side aisles when the evangelist opened the doors of the church.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
The trustees of the charity, which is formally known as The Almshouse of St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist, decided to sell the work to avoid insurance and security costs.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2025
Evangelist Franklin Graham admonished Trump not to use "foul language," the former president recalled, but Trump argued it is not a "real bad word" and "I don't use it much."
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2024
A similar step and corresponding angel wing is found on the opposite panel, depicting St. John the Evangelist, belonging to The Frick Collection.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 19, 2024
Her elementary school, St. John the Evangelist, and St. Mary’s Academy in Inglewood, the all-girls Catholic high school she attended, also are about 10 minutes away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2024
A dragon issuing from a chalice is the symbol of St. John the Evangelist, an allusion to the dragon of the Apocalypse.
From The Grotesque in Church Art by T. Tindall Wildridge
But there is no shortage of evangelists who will point to Musk's staggering ability to raise money, challenge orthodoxy and prove his doubters wrong.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
Now, bitcoin’s early evangelists are getting behind another digital token: Zcash.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
Plus, how Claude got so good at catching bugs and inside the rise of in-house AI evangelists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
In the weeks after “Heated Rivalry” wrapped its first season, evangelists of the gay hockey show toyed with the idea of switching to “Industry,” which was premiering its fourth season in early January.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026
The evangelists sat down anyway, on a makeshift bench of bricks and planks.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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.
