Meaning & use
missionary
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablereligion
A person sent by a religious group to teach its beliefs or do charitable work in another place.
Grammar: Countable; often used with a place: a missionary in Peru.
Patterns
- a missionary in somewhere
- a missionary to somewhere
Her aunt worked as a missionary in Kenya for twenty years.
The missionaries built a school and a small clinic.
He trained as a missionary before moving abroad.
adjectivebefore a nounreligion
Relating to the work of missionaries or to spreading a belief.
Grammar: Comes before a noun: missionary work.
Patterns
- missionary work
- a missionary school
The church raised money for missionary work overseas.
He attended a missionary school as a child.
The society sent a missionary journey to the north.
adjectivebefore a nounfigurative
Showing strong, almost religious determination to promote a cause.
Grammar: Figurative, often in missionary zeal.
Patterns
- missionary zeal
She brought missionary zeal to the recycling campaign.
The founder had a missionary enthusiasm for teaching coding.
His missionary passion for fitness annoyed his friends.
Word forms
| plural | missionaries |
|---|
Common combinations
- Christian missionary
- A Christian missionary opened the first school.
- missionary work
- Missionary work often includes teaching and medicine.
- missionary zeal
- He promoted the new software with missionary zeal.
- medical missionary
- A medical missionary treated patients in the village.
- missionary society
- The missionary society funded the hospital.
Synonyms and how they differ
- evangelist
- Evangelist focuses on preaching, particularly in Christianity, while missionary suggests being sent to a distant place.
- preacher
- A preacher gives sermons and need not travel abroad.
- crusader
- Crusader suggests fighting for a cause, often not religious.
- proselytizer
- Proselytizer is often critical and means someone who tries hard to convert others.
Word family
Commonly confused: missionary or missile? missionary or mission?
missionary vs missile
A missile is a weapon or thrown object, with no link to religion.
missionary vs mission
A mission is the task or station; a missionary is the person sent.
Practice
Her friends joked that she showed ______ zeal in persuading everyone to use public transport.
Choose one answer.
Missionary zeal means intense dedication to spreading a cause. The other adjectives are real words but do not collocate with zeal in this way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “missionary”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.