Pentecostal
Americanadjective
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of or relating to Pentecost, a Christian festival commemorating the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles.
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noting or relating to any of various Christian groups, usually fundamentalist, that emphasize the activity of the Holy Spirit, stress holiness of living, and express their religious feelings uninhibitedly, as by speaking in tongues.
noun
adjective
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(usually prenominal) of or relating to any of various Christian groups that emphasize the charismatic aspects of Christianity and adopt a fundamental attitude to the Bible
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of or relating to Pentecost or the influence of the Holy Ghost
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of Pentecostal
From the Late Latin word pentēcostālis, dating back to 1540–50. See Pentecost, -al 1
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.
Adusah was mainly based in London, preaching as head pastor of another Pentecostal church.
From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026
The child of a Pentecostal school principal raised outside Portland, Ore., Waggoner grew up witnessing tension between religious groups and a progressive local government.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025
She was, too, genuinely called to her Pentecostal Christianity, at least at first, which author Claire Hoffman writes about with great sensitivity.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2025
They are Florida’s nondenominational Revive Church and Hawaii’s Pentecostal megachurch King’s Maui, according to Schatzline’s social media posts.
From Salon • Nov. 11, 2025
“That’s right,” Lucy, Blanca’s Pentecostal friend whom we used to call Chewbacca, chimed in, “why did they name the school after her? She must have been important.”
From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez
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.
