pastoral

[ pas-ter-uhl, pah-ster- ]

/ ˈpæs tər əl, ˈpɑ stər- /

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See synonyms for: pastoral / pastorals on Thesaurus.com

adjective

having the simplicity, charm, serenity, or other characteristics generally attributed to rural areas: pastoral scenery; the pastoral life.

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

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.

of, relating to, or consisting of shepherds.

of or relating to a pastor or the duties of a pastor: pastoral visits to a hospital.

used for pasture, as land.

noun

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.

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

Music. pastorale.

a treatise on the duties of a pastor.

a letter to the people from their spiritual pastor.

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

Also called pastoral staff . crosier (def. 1).

OTHER WORDS FOR pastoral

1 rustic, rural, simple.

3 bucolic, idyllic.

7 eclogue, idyll; georgic.

See synonyms for pastoral on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of pastoral

1350–1400; Middle English <Latin pāstōrālis, equivalent to pāstōr-, stem of pāstor (see pastor) + -ālis-al¹

OTHER WORDS FROM pastoral

pas·to·ral·ly, adverbnon·pas·to·ral, adjective, nounnon·pas·to·ral·ly, adverbsem·i·pas·to·ral, adjective

sem·i·pas·to·ral·ly, adverbun·pas·to·ral, adjectiveun·pas·to·ral·ly, adverb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH pastoral

pastoral , pastorale

Words nearby pastoral

pastness, Pasto, past one's prime, pastor, pastorage, pastoral, pastoral counseling, pastorale, Pastoral Epistle, pastoralism, pastoralist

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pastoral in a sentence

Takeda’s video-collage shuttles rapidly through various photo-based locations, usually urban but occasionally as pastoral as in previous year’s shows.
In the galleries: A multi-sensory exhibit with cherry blossoms and a dire warning|Mark Jenkins|July 30, 2021|Washington Post
An example that I’m aware of was a big wind farm in Kenya, and it was on pastoral land belonging to pastoralists.
Two (Totally Opposite) Ways to Save the Planet (Ep. 346 Rebroadcast)|Stephen J. Dubner|July 29, 2021|Freakonomics
These aren’t the idyllic, pastoral farms we’re taught to picture as children, with birds free to wander around in the greenery.
It’s hard to make chickenless chicken delicious. Has Beyond Meat cracked the code?|Sigal Samuel|July 9, 2021|Vox
For a short stroll or run, check out pastoral Harmon Canyon Preserve, which slices through the mountainous foothills perched at the city’s northern edge.
The Ultimate Channel Islands National Park Travel Guide|Shawnté Salabert|June 23, 2021|Outside Online

Those posts cite prominent conversion “therapists” and include a video with advice for conversion therapy practitioners and others that falsely suggest “Schema therapy” and “professionals and pastoral mentors” can successfully change LGBTQ people.
5 things social media platforms can do to combat anti-LGBTQ disinformation|Brianna January|January 7, 2021|Washington Blade
He is to be admired for his kindness and genuine pastoral concern for all the members of his flock.
Pope Francis Pushes the Church Another Step Further on Gays|Gene Robinson|October 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The carriage drivers insist that a great majority of their horses live to enjoy a pastoral retirement.
Central Park’s Carriages Saved This Horse|Michael Daly|April 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Fast forward about 20 years, and this American Pastoral image of college seems, for the average college student, an ancient dream.
The Price of College Has Increased 1120 Percent Since 1978, So Is It Worth It?|Andrew Rossi|January 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is a novel of suspense and secrets, a pastoral novel that slowly tears the pastoral apart.
How I Write: Paul Lynch|Noah Charney|December 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
For most of the year, pastoral Pag is home to roughly eight thousand residents and thirty thousand indigenous sheep.
Party on in Pag: The Controversy on Croatia’s Hottest Island|Kristin Vukovic|August 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The abnormal rise in wages had the bad effect of inducing the natives to leave their pastoral pursuits to flock into the towns.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
Alàri, too, offers a marvellously carved wooden cup, adorned with pastoral scenes.
Frdric Mistral|Charles Alfred Downer
Can you imagine anything more pastoral than a traffic in cream and butter and eggs?
The Seven Cardinal Sins: Envy and Indolence|Eugne Sue
Stowmarket, as I have said, had the honour of being placed under the pastoral care of one of these Smectymnian divines.
East Anglia|J. Ewing Ritchie
In addition Broken Hill is the centre of one of the largest pastoral districts in Australia.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3|Various

British Dictionary definitions for pastoral

pastoral

/ (ˈpɑːstərəl) /

adjective

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

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

(of land) used for pasture

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

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

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

of or relating to shepherds, their work, etc

noun

a literary work or picture portraying rural life, esp the lives of shepherds in an idealizing waySee also eclogue

music a variant of pastorale

Christianity

a letter from a clergyman to the people under his charge
the letter of a bishop to the clergy or people of his diocese
Also called: pastoral staff the crosier or staff carried by a bishop as a symbol of his pastoral responsibilities

Derived forms of pastoral

pastoralism, nounpastorally, adverb

Word Origin for pastoral

C15: from Latin, from pastor

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

Cultural definitions for pastoral

pastoral

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.

pastoral

OTHER WORDS FOR pastoral

Origin of pastoral

OTHER WORDS FROM pastoral

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH pastoral

Words nearby pastoral

Words related to pastoral

How to use pastoral in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pastoral

Derived forms of pastoral

Word Origin for pastoral

Cultural definitions for pastoral