missionary
Americannoun
-
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.
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a person strongly in favor of a program, set of principles, etc., who attempts to persuade or convert others.
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a person who is sent on a mission.
adjective
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pertaining to or connected with religious missions.
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engaged in such a mission or devoted to work connected with missions.
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reflecting or prompted by the desire to persuade or convert others.
the missionary efforts of political fanatics.
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characteristic of a missionary.
missionary zeal.
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relating to or noting the missionary position.
Then it was up to the bedroom for some good, old-fashioned missionary sex.
noun
adjective
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of or relating to missionaries
missionary work
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resulting from a desire to convert people to one's own beliefs
missionary zeal
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing missionary
Send a Message: Mit and Miss
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Because of Winn-Dixie
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Human Geography - High School
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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.
The patient, medical missionary Peter Stafford, is responding well to treatment, the Charite Hospital in Berlin said Wednesday.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
The doctor, his wife and another colleague had been treating patients when the outbreak started, Serge, the Christian missionary group they were working for, has said.
From BBC • May 19, 2026
That patient, the first person to be treated by the unit, was American medical missionary Rick Sacra.
From Slate • May 14, 2026
The pattern of seeking converts is manifested in the missionary work of both Christianity and Islam.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
Eventually, as a result of Doug’s visit, one group of Fayu invited a courageous husband-and-wife missionary couple to live with them.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
