missioners

noun

plural of missioner
as in missionaries
a person who is sent especially to a foreign country to do religious work (such as converting people to the religion or ministering to the sick) The church has a program in which volunteers spend one year abroad as missioners.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of missioners In 1976, the residence was redesigned as a retirement home for church missioners. — George Avalos, Mercury News, 10 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for missioners
  1. missionaries
  2. priests
Noun
  • As colonial administrators and missionaries had penetrated the highlands, the practice of cannibalism had ended and kuru had begun to recede.
    — Rachel Aviv, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
  • The church’s origins date to the arrival of Christian missionaries in Mombasa in 1844, and its membership has long represented a diverse cross section of Kenyan society, with members of various ethnicities and social strata.
    — Stephanie TriplettAll, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of missionaries
Noun
  • There haven’t been any female popes, cardinals, archbishops or priests.
    — Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2026
  • So it was left to her to become one of the 15% of Shinto priests who are female.
    — Pico Iyer, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of priests

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Cite this Entry

“Missioners.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/missioners. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.

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