sexton
noun
an official of a church charged with taking care of the edifice and its contents, ringing the bell, etc., and sometimes with burying the dead.
sexton
1 American
[sek-stuhn]
/ ˈsɛk stən /
noun
-
an official of a church charged with taking care of the edifice and its contents, ringing the bell, etc., and sometimes with burying the dead.
-
an official who maintains a synagogue and its religious articles, chants the designated portion of the Torah on prescribed days, and assists the cantor in conducting services on festivals.
Sexton
2
American
[sek-stuhn]
/ ˈsɛk stən /
noun
sexton
British
/ ˈsɛkstən /
noun
-
a person employed to act as caretaker of a church and its contents and graveyard, and often also as bell-ringer, gravedigger, etc
-
another name for the burying beetle
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sexton
1275–1325; Middle English sexteyn, sekesteyn, syncopated variant of segerstane, secristeyn < Anglo-French segerstaine sacristan
Vocabulary lists containing sexton
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:
When she later fell pregnant, Van Gogh was accused by the village sexton of being responsible.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 14, 2022
It means I’m its chief executive officer, as well as its chief of police, tree warden and cemetery sexton, and I wind the clock in the Scotland Congregational Church.
From New York Times ● May 7, 2022
Mark Sealey digs graves for a living - although the more accurate description for his job is a sexton.
From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2022
The Rev. Brian Nystrom, associate priest, and Tim Schwarz, the sexton at St. John’s, tested the stained-glass windows that open out over where the new deck will be.
From Seattle Times ● May 30, 2018
Bod walked over to the chapel door, lifted the stone beside the porch and pulled out the spare key, left there by a long-dead sexton.
From "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman
Sexton, who was elected as an independent in Chester-le-Street before switching to Reform, confirmed he had resigned from the party but declined to say why.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Lyndsey Fox, Nicole Brown and Paul Sexton have had their party affiliation changed to independent on the Durham County Council website, external, although none has given precise reasons for their shift.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Clay Travis and Buck Sexton have found their own kind of success in Rush Limbaugh’s old time slot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
“We’re not trying to necessarily just be the highest on the Nielsen rating,” Sexton said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
But Mr Sexton once awoke during my absence on one of these nocturnal visits, and the whole affair was soon discovered.
From Tales from Blackwood Volume 9 by Various
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.
