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.

---

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

---

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

Charleson was 40 at the time, known for playing Scottish Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in “Chariots of Fire.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

For a couple of years, Trinidad juggled barber college, work at FedEx and missionary work through his L.A. church, Iglesia De Jesucristo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

Her father, Robert Lee Parton, was a tobacco farmer and paid a missionary a sack of cornmeal for delivering her.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 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

But he was adopted by a missionary who taught him English, and then he worked for various English people in Calcutta before signing up for his indenture and traveling across the ocean.

From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson

Waves of European missionaries sailed through the South Pacific in the 19th century, bringing evangelical Christian teachings that were adopted with enthusiasm.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

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

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 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

Of all the ways Protestants tried to attract converts, one of the most effective was embedding missionaries in indigenous communities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

Because of Dinka traditions and the work of the missionaries, I have two names.

From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau

Related Words

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