Methodist

American  

[meth-uh-dist] / ˈmɛθ ə dɪst /

noun

• Methodists
  plural

1. a member of the largest Christian denomination that grew out of the revival of religion led by John Wesley: stresses both personal and social morality and has an Arminian doctrine and, in the U.S., a modified episcopal polity.

2. (lowercase) a person who relies greatly or excessively on methods or a particular method.

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adjective

1. Also Methodistic, Methodistical. of or relating to the Methodists or Methodism.

Methodist British  

/ ˈmɛθədɪst /

noun

1. a member of any of the Nonconformist denominations that derive from the system of faith and practice initiated by John Wesley and his followers

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adjective

1. of or relating to Methodism or the Church embodying it (the Methodist Church )

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• non-Methodist
  noun
• anti-Methodist
  adjective
• non-Methodistic
  adjective
• pre-Methodist
  adjective
• pro-Methodist
  adjective
• pseudo-Methodist
  adjective
• Methodistically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Methodists
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of Methodist

First recorded in 1585–95; method + -ist

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Methodist Methodists

The sprawling New York City duplex is located in the Novare building—formerly the Washington Square Methodist Church built in 1860, which was converted into an eight-unit condominium building in 2006.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is a former lay preacher in the Methodist church, while Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape is the devout son of a Seventh-day Adventist pastor.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

The superintendent of the Cannock Chase Methodist Church Circuit, Rev Samantha Hagerman, said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with family, friends and emergency services affected by the incident near Cheslyn Hay yesterday."

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

His name adorns Southern Methodist University’s football stadium, and he has been seen golfing with former President George W. Bush.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

Mass meetings were now being held weekly at Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

From "Because They Marched" by Russell Freedman

Catholics overtook Methodists as the largest denomination in the nation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026

Pacific Palisades, founded by Methodists, was a “Christian community” with modern amenities “where the mountains met the coast.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2025

Nora Mathison: Syracuse University had been founded just three years earlier, in 1870, by forward thinking Methodists.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 28, 2023

In some areas, United Methodists have designated “lighthouse” or similarly named congregations, with a mission for receiving members who wanted to stay United Methodists but whose churches were leaving.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 6, 2023

The free Negroes, the Quakers, the Methodists, the German farmers, who helped runaway slaves in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, started using phrases and words suited to the idea of a railroad.

From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry

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