pastoral

American  

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

adjective

1. having the simplicity, charm, serenity, or other characteristics generally attributed to rural areas.

   pastoral scenery; the pastoral life.

   Synonyms:

   simple, rural, rustic

2. pertaining to the country or to life in the country; rural; rustic.

3. portraying or suggesting idyllically the life of shepherds or of the country, as a work of literature, art, or music.

   pastoral poetry; a pastoral symphony.

   Synonyms:

   idyllic, bucolic

4. of, relating to, or consisting of shepherds.

5. of or relating to a pastor or the duties of a pastor.

   pastoral visits to a hospital.

6. used for pasture, as land.

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noun

1. a poem, play, or the like, dealing with the life of shepherds, commonly in a conventional or artificial manner, or with simple rural life generally; a bucolic.

   Synonyms:

   georgic, idyll, eclogue

2. a picture or work of art representing the shepherds' life.

3. Music. pastorale.

4. a treatise on the duties of a pastor.

5. a letter to the people from their spiritual pastor.

6. a letter to the clergy or people of an ecclesiastical district from its bishop.

7. Also called pastoral staff.  crosier.

pastoral British  

/ ˈpɑːstərəl /

adjective

1. of, characterized by, or depicting rural life, scenery, etc

2. (of a literary work) dealing with an idealized form of rural existence in a conventional way

3. (of land) used for pasture

4. denoting or relating to the branch of theology dealing with the duties of a clergyman or priest to his congregation

5. of or relating to a clergyman or priest in charge of a congregation or his duties as such

6. of or relating to a teacher's responsibility for the personal, as the distinct from the educational, development of pupils

7. of or relating to shepherds, their work, etc

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noun

1. a literary work or picture portraying rural life, esp the lives of shepherds in an idealizing way See also eclogue

2. music a variant of pastorale

3. Christianity

   1. a letter from a clergyman to the people under his charge

   2. the letter of a bishop to the clergy or people of his diocese

   3. Also called: pastoral staff.  the crosier or staff carried by a bishop as a symbol of his pastoral responsibilities

pastoral Cultural  

1. A work of art that celebrates the cultivated enjoyment of the countryside. The poem “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” by Christopher Marlowe, is a pastoral. Its first stanza reads:

   Come live with me, and be my love;

   And we will all the pleasures prove

   That hills and valleys, dales and fields,

   Woods or steepy mountain yields.

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Other Word Forms

• nonpastoral
  adjective
• nonpastorally
  adverb
• pastoralism
  noun
• pastorally
  adverb
• semipastoral
  adjective
• semipastorally
  adverb
• unpastoral
  adjective
• unpastorally
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of pastoral

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin pāstōrālis, equivalent to pāstōr-, stem of pāstor ( see pastor) + -ālis -al ¹

Explanation

Use the adjective pastoral to describe the countryside, particularly an idealized view of the country. If you draw cheery pictures with lush fields, calm skies, cheerful bunnies, and colorful wildflowers, you draw pastoral scenes. Pastoral can also describe something done by, you guessed it, a pastor. If a pastor writes a letter to his congregation, it is a pastoral letter. How are the two meanings of pastoral related? Shepherds, of course. Pastors are often referred to as shepherds of their flock (i.e., the members of their church congregation). Actual shepherds, the kind who tend sheep, work in pastoral settings.

Example Sentences

The Codeco militia claims to defend the rights of the mainly farming Lendu community, notably against the mainly pastoral Hema community.

From Barron's • May 9, 2026

“Going there, it was like the prettiest place ever; very pastoral, it blew my mind,” Chambers said.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

While this will be his first pastoral visit to Africa since assuming the leadership of the Catholic Church last year, the Pope is no stranger to the continent.

From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026

Between her pastoral work and her activism on the ground, she wasn’t easy to track down.

From Salon • Apr. 6, 2026

Security measures are stepped up after the second pastoral, he says.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

Related Words

• agrarian
• bucolic
• idyllic
• rural
• rustic