sermon
Americannoun
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sermons
plural
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a discourse for the purpose of religious instruction or exhortation, especially one based on a text of Scripture and delivered by a member of the clergy as part of a religious service.
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any serious speech, discourse, or exhortation, especially on a moral issue.
- Synonyms:
- lecture
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a long, tedious speech.
noun
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an address of religious instruction or exhortation, often based on a passage from the Bible, esp one delivered during a church service
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a written version of such an address
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a serious speech, esp one administering reproof
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of sermon
1150–1200; Middle English < Medieval Latin sermōn- (stem of sermō ) speech from pulpit, Latin: discourse, equivalent to ser- (base of serere to link up, organize) + -mōn- noun suffix
Compare meaning
How does sermon compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A sermon is a speech, usually religious in nature, given by a priest, preacher, rabbi, or other religious leader as part of a service. Although most sermons focus on Bible passages, you can use the word sermon more generally to refer to any speech that contains a moral lesson. Sports coaches are known to deliver moving sermons, as are teachers and camp counselors. But if you come in late, after missing your curfew, the last thing you want to hear is a sermon by your mom on the importance of keeping your word.
Vocabulary lists containing sermon
Because of Winn-Dixie
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My Life with the Chimpanzees
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Dear Martin
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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.
See Examples For:
As much as she was proud of where she was from, Dolly also spent the latter part of her years preaching and living out loud a sermon to her native region.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
“Scripture says you can’t love God and hate other people,” Talarico, a seminarian, said in a sermon posted on TikTok in December 2025.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Turkey's religious affairs directorate mentioned the stand-up show, without naming Göktaş, in its weekly sermon on Friday which is read out in all the country's mosques.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
Printing presses churned out tens of thousands of items—catechisms, sermon collections—all intended to elicit conversions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
“Raizel, I don’t need a derasha,” I said, earning a humorless look for comparing her enthusiastic explanation to a sermon.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Talarico’s campaign pointed to the Democrat’s extensive comments about his faith in sermons, speeches and interviews.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
One California pastor has even trained a robot dog on his sermons, and it trots his church’s aisles on Sundays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Yet Mr. Weber showed that Dutch Jesuits deployed the camera obscura as a metaphor in devotional literature and sermons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
His father was a Southern Baptist minister, and his Sunday morning sermons were broadcast on the radio in the afternoons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
The priest who was the college chaplain would regularly say in his sermons that a Catholic must rely upon conscience as his ultimate guide.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
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.
