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Synonyms

pastor

American  
[pas-ter, pah-ster] / ˈpæs tər, ˈpɑ stər /

noun

  1. a minister or priest in charge of a church.

  2. a person having spiritual care of a number of persons.

  3. Ornithology. any of various starlings, especially Sturnus roseus rosy pastor of Europe and Asia.

verb (used with object)

  1. to serve as the pastor of.

    He pastored the church here for many years.
pastor British  
/ ˈpɑːstə /

noun

  1. a clergyman or priest in charge of a congregation

  2. a person who exercises spiritual guidance over a number of people

  3. an archaic word for shepherd

  4. Also called: rosy pastor.  a S Asian starling, Sturnus roseus, having glossy black head and wings and a pale pink body

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
pastor Cultural  

  1. In some groups of Christians (see also Christian), the clergyman in charge of an individual congregation. The term is used this way in the Lutheran Church and Roman Catholic Church and, to a lesser extent, by Baptists and in the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Other Word Forms

  • pastorless adjective
  • pastorlike adjective
  • pastorly adjective
  • pastorship noun
  • subpastor noun

Etymology

Origin of pastor

1325–75; < Latin pāstor shepherd, literally, feeder, equivalent to pās-, base of pāscere to put to pasture, feed + -tor -tor; replacing Middle English pastour < Anglo-French

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.

His father is a pastor, so Jeremiah says religion has always been a part of his life.

From BBC

According to the Times, many local pastors are concerned for minority and immigrant members of their congregations, but they are afraid of angering their conservative, white members.

From Salon

Soon after the city decided not to intervene, another group decided to try and shut the clinic down - this one spearheaded by Texas pastor Mark Lee Dickson.

From BBC

“It’s a challenging question,” said Andrew Sedra, a pastor from Sydney, Australia, who appeared several times on Kirk’s podcast and was at the Turning Point conference.

From The Wall Street Journal

His children were working, getting married and established in their own homes, and he’d been ordained as a pastor in 1999 and was deeply involved in his church.

From Los Angeles Times

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.