definitions

preach

[ preech ]
/ pritʃ /
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR preach ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to proclaim or make known by sermon (the gospel, good tidings, etc.).
to deliver (a sermon).
to advocate or inculcate (religious or moral truth, right conduct, etc.) in speech or writing.

verb (used without object)

to deliver a sermon.
to give earnest advice, as on religious or moral subjects or the like.
to do this in an obtrusive or tedious way.

RELATED CONTENT

Outcry And Other Trending Words On Dictionary.comInept was up 186% in searches this week . . . and this time it’s about somebody else’s dysfunctional government and leadership team. The Times helped us explain this one: “Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister, and his deputy, Barnaby Joyce, traded extraordinary public barbs yesterday over an adulterous affair that has gripped the nation and fractured the government. Mr Turnbull said his deputy had ‘appalled everyone’ …
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

teach, exhort, admonish, orate, sermonize, prophesy, deliver, inform, minister, address, evangelize, talk, blow, urge, advocate, harangue, preachify, mission, missionary, pulpiteer

Nearby words

pre-law, pre-raphaelite, pre-roman, pre-socratic, pre-u, preach, preach to the converted, preacher, preacher curl, preachify, preaching

Origin of preach

1175–1225; Middle English prechen < Old French pre(ë)chier < Late Latin praedicāre to preach (Latin: to assert publicly, proclaim). See predicate

Related forms

out·preach, verb (used with object)un·preached, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for preach

British Dictionary definitions for preach

preach

/ (priːtʃ) /

verb

to make known (religious truth) or give religious or moral instruction or exhortation in (sermons)
to advocate (a virtue, action, etc), esp in a moralizing way

Derived Forms

preachable, adjective

Word Origin for preach

C13: from Old French prechier, from Church Latin praedicāre, from Latin: to proclaim in public; see predicate
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

Idioms and Phrases with preach

preach

In addition to the idiom beginning with preach

  • preach to the converted

also see:

  • practice what you preach
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.