(initial capital letter) (used as a title of respect applied or prefixed to the name of a member of the clergy or a religious order).
Reverend Timothy Cranshaw; Reverend Mother.
worthy to be revered; entitled to reverence.
pertaining to or characteristic of the clergy.
worthy of reverence
relating to or designating a clergyman or the clergy
Reverend with a surname alone ( Reverend Smith ), as a term of address ( ``Yes, Reverend'' ), or in the salutation of a letter ( Dear Rev. Mr Smith ) are all generally considered to be wrong usage. Preferred are ( the ) Reverend John Smith or Reverend Mr Smith and Dear Mr Smith
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin reverendus worthy of being revered, gerund of reverērī to revere 1
Use the noun reverend to talk about a clergy member of a Christian church, as in: "Let's ask the reverend if she'll marry us next week." A minister, preacher, or priest can each also be called a reverend. The word is often capitalized, especially when it's used in the form "the Reverend so-and-so." In the early 15th century, it meant "worthy of respect," a meaning that's sometimes still used today, and by the late part of that century it was being used for clergy members too, though it was earliest spelled reverent.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The former reality TV host could not help but compare himself to the late reverend King.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
"ICE has even been arresting airport workers while they are on the job," said one of those who protested, reverend Mariah Furness Tollgaard of Hamline Church United Methodist.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
“I don’t understand how as a pastor, he thinks that that’s acceptable,” Levy Armstrong, also an ordained reverend, said in a Washington Post interview Monday.
From Salon ● Jan. 20, 2026
It means this small corner of Somerset can claim to have the second, sixth, 13th, 27th and 30th presidents of the US traced back to it - and its nearby reverend.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2025
The reverend admitted that he hadn’t read a single word yet today.
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
Reverend Tom Kennar said it isn't marriage that is expensive, it's the extras most modern couples like to add.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Silence Is Talking by Reverend & The Makers is reborn as the terrace anthem, aided by the trumpeter in the England band playing the familiar riff taken from War's 1975 song Low Rider.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
In an address to Parliament, the bill's sponsor Reverend John Ntim Fordjour said the bill protected Ghanaian family and cultural values.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
Reverend Catherine Hutton called the attack "horrifying and completely shocking", but criticised the protest as having been "pretty intimidating".
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2026
When she sees Reverend Hunt’s Bible, she opens it and gently touches the pages.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
No doctors, no lawyers, no journalists, no politicians, no reverends.
From Salon ● Dec. 9, 2022
They included two religious reverends, two senior penal system staff and two academics from the University of Sydney.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2022
They can be reverends, rabbis, priests or pastors.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 12, 2018
Seven District residents — three reverends, two rabbis and two retired judges — filed the original complaint to the ABC board in mid-June.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 19, 2018
It was on this trip that he had acquired most of his distaste for the reverends.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
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.
