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evangelical

American  
[ee-van-jel-i-kuhl, ev-uhn-] / ˌi vænˈdʒɛl ɪ kəl, ˌɛv ən- /

adjective

  1. Also evangelic. pertaining to or in keeping with the gospel and its teachings.

  2. belonging to or designating the Christian churches that emphasize the teachings and authority of the Scriptures, especially of the New Testament, in opposition to the institutional authority of the church itself, and that stress as paramount the tenet that salvation is achieved by personal conversion to faith in the atonement of Christ.

  3. designating Christians, especially of the late 1970s, eschewing the designation of fundamentalist but holding to a conservative interpretation of the Bible.

  4. pertaining to certain movements in the Protestant churches in the 18th and 19th centuries that stressed the importance of personal experience of guilt for sin, and of reconciliation to God through Christ.

  5. marked by ardent or zealous enthusiasm for a cause.

noun

  1. an adherent of evangelical doctrines or a person who belongs to an evangelical church or party.

evangelical British  
/ ˌiːvænˈdʒɛlɪkəl /

adjective

  1. of, based upon, or following from the Gospels

  2. denoting or relating to any of certain Protestant sects or parties, which emphasize the importance of personal conversion and faith in atonement through the death of Christ as a means of salvation

  3. another word for evangelistic

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. an upholder of evangelical doctrines or a member of an evangelical sect or party, esp the Low-Church party of the Church of England

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
evangelical Cultural  

  1. A member of any of various Christian churches that believes in the sole authority of the literal Bible (see also Bible), a salvation (see also salvation) only through regeneration, or rebirth, and a spiritually transformed personal life.

Other Word Forms

  • evangelicalism noun
  • evangelicality noun
  • evangelically adverb
  • evangelicalness noun
  • nonevangelic adjective
  • nonevangelical adjective
  • nonevangelically adverb
  • pseudoevangelic adjective
  • pseudoevangelical adjective
  • pseudoevangelically adverb
  • superevangelical adjective
  • superevangelically adverb
  • unevangelic adjective
  • unevangelical adjective
  • unevangelically adverb

Etymology

Origin of evangelical

1525–35; < Late Latin evangelicus (< Late Greek euangelikós; evangel 1, -ic ) + -al 1

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.