vicar

noun

Definition of vicarnext
as in rector

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 vicar Upon arrival, John is quickly befriended by his charming, confident next-door neighbor Tommy (Ewen Bremner), a devoted husband to the local vicar Rebecca (Eve Myles). — Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2025 On Wednesday, Francis' vicar for Rome urged his followers to silently pray for an hour for the pope before evening vespers services. — Louis Casiano, Fox News, 19 Feb. 2025 Sister Mary Thomas, the vicar, had come from Wisconsin to witness the event. — Lawrence Wright, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025 Pope Francis—who Catholics like Vance honor as the vicar of Jesus Christ—has highlighted the plight of migrants as a tragedy of our time, urging global solidarity and humane treatment of those fleeing violence and poverty. — Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 28 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for vicar
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vicar
  1. rector
  2. pastor
  3. clergyman
  4. parson
  5. churchman
  6. curate
  7. bishop
  8. padre
Noun
  • Ciotti had gone to speak to the school’s rector, to explain why the girl’s real name could not be used.
    — D. T. Max, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024
  • Other information provided by the Archdiocese noted Reidy was ordained by Bishop Timothy J. Harrington at Saint Paul Cathedral in Worcester in 1994, and was assigned to St. Peter Parish in Worcester before becoming rector of Saint Paul Cathedral by Bishop Daniel P. Reilly.
    — Staff report, Hartford Courant, 12 Feb. 2025
Definition of rector
Noun
  • While in town, travelers can also visit the Rosa Parks Museum, which tells the story of the Montgomery bus boycott and the fight against segregation, and the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where Dr. King served as a pastor.
    — Bailey Berg, AFAR Media, 14 Mar. 2025
  • Despite all the pastor’s conventionality and sanctimony, there are flames between them, but those flickers run fairly cool until a breaking point in which Manders at last makes explicit reference to them.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2025
Definition of pastor
Noun
  • Kirchner had, a year earlier, backed sanctions for clergymen who publicly opposed the government’s human rights policies, including his decision to annul laws pardoning dictatorship-era atrocities.
    — Federico Perelmuter, The Dial, 13 Mar. 2025
  • The emails, sent from Saints accounts, don’t specify which clergymen were removed from the list or why.
    — Brett Martel, Chicago Tribune, 3 Feb. 2025
Definition of clergyman
Noun
  • Writing in the eighteenth century, Smith compared energetic and often sensationalist Methodist preachers with the more reserved and cerebral parsons of the Church of England.
    — Shadi Hamid, Foreign Affairs, 18 June 2024
  • The other is her violent stepfather, who, in this version, is also the church’s parson (Steven Pasquale).
    — Jesse Green, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2024
Definition of parson
Noun
  • Martini was a key figure in a group of churchmen who met annually in St. Gallen, Switzerland, to ponder how best to blunt John Paul and Ratzinger’s reactionary thrust.
    — Paul Elie, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2025
  • Pentecostalism was about two decades old at the time, and its early practices of interracial worship, speaking in tongues, and divine healing were subjects of lively conversation among the relatively staid and respectable churchmen of mainline Protestantism.
    — Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 19 Aug. 2024
Definition of churchman
Noun
  • This interest followed him throughout his life, expanding during his education at King’s College London and Cambridge and into his work as a curate in Hampshire.
    — Ben Woollard, JSTOR Daily, 29 Jan. 2025
  • Kingsley was born in 1819, the son of a curate who subjected him to a rigorous and frequently brutal education.
    — Ben Woollard, JSTOR Daily, 29 Jan. 2025
Definition of curate
Noun
  • The Vatican office for the synod, or gathering of bishops, released a timetable through 2028 to implement the reforms and said Francis had approved the calendar last week.
    — Colleen Barry, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2025
  • Unlike a synod of bishops, this will be a unique gathering of bishops, clergy, monks, friars, nuns and lay men and women.
    — Christopher Lamb, CNN, 15 Mar. 2025
Definition of bishop
Noun
  • The Mexican fan palm, supposedly brought here by the mission-building padres to supply Palm Sunday foliage, can grow taller, maybe 10 stories, and skinnier, and can dip and sway camera-readily in the wind.
    — Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2025
  • The group has since evolved to the comité de padres and grown to roughly 30 mothers.
    — Mathew Miranda, Sacramento Bee, 18 Apr. 2024
Definition of padre

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“Vicar.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vicar. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.

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More from Merriam-Webster on vicar

Nglish: Translation of vicar for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about vicar

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