missionary

American  

[mish-uh-ner-ee] / ˈmɪʃ əˌnɛr i /

noun

• missionaries
  plural

1. a person sent by a church into an area to carry on evangelism or other activities, as educational or hospital work.

   There are opportunities for student missionaries living abroad to work with people in need of aid, participate in building projects, and share the Gospel.

2. a person strongly in favor of a program, set of principles, etc., who attempts to persuade or convert others.

3. a person who is sent on a mission.

4. missionary position.

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adjective

1. pertaining to or connected with religious missions.

2. engaged in such a mission or devoted to work connected with missions.

3. reflecting or prompted by the desire to persuade or convert others.

   the missionary efforts of political fanatics.

4. characteristic of a missionary.

   missionary zeal.

5. relating to or noting the missionary position.

   Then it was up to the bedroom for some good, old-fashioned missionary sex.

missionary British  

/ ˈmɪʃənərɪ /

noun

1. a member of a religious mission

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adjective

1. of or relating to missionaries

   missionary work

2. resulting from a desire to convert people to one's own beliefs

   missionary zeal

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonmissionary
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• missionaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of missionary

First recorded in 1625–35; from New Latin missiōnārius; see mission, -ary

Explanation

A missionary is someone who travels to a foreign country to perform charitable work and, most commonly, to try to convert people to their faith. Missionary can be a noun — the person who goes on a mission — or an adjective — the type of work done on such a trip. If your great-grandmother was a missionary for the Methodist church in Japan in the 1920s, her purpose there was to convince people to abandon their religion for Methodism. Presumably she did this missionary work because she thought it would save their souls.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

missionary missionaries

Rideout had been working in Niger as a Christian missionary for 19 years and was also a pilot for SIM International, which operates in more than 70 countries.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Even selling the book could prove dangerous in the South: Authorities in North Carolina jailed one missionary for distributing four copies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Its missionary arm ran slave-farmed plantations in the Caribbean to fund the spread of Anglicanism, individual members of clergy were slave owners, and the Church received large donations from slave traders.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Two years ago, rushing to finish a slide for a sermon on a South Pacific missionary, he dropped in an AI-generated image without checking it closely.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

I tried to picture myself in a missionary role, gathering the little children unto me, as it was embarrassing to be playing this babyish game with children waist-high to me.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Tassone said Ross had visited other friends in Norway and Denmark, and had supported missionaries financially.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

European artworks brought to the court by diplomats and missionaries further influenced Mughal watercolors, contributing to the emergence of an increased naturalism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026

A new San Gabriel mission was being built, five years after Franciscan missionaries had founded the original mission in a flood zone, which flooded.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

There have been many devastating school fires in Kenya, where boarding schools are common as a colonial legacy of missionaries and the British.

From Barron's ● May 28, 2026

The missionaries built and ran schools when the government was unwilling or unable to do so.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Related Words

• clergy
• evangelist
• messenger
• pastor
• preacher
• teacher