evangelist

[ ih-van-juh-list ]

noun

1. a Protestant minister or layperson who serves as an itinerant or special preacher, especially a revivalist.
2. a preacher of the gospel.
3. (initial capital letter) any of the writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) of the four Gospels.
4. (in the primitive church) a person who first brought the gospel to a city or region.
5. (initial capital letter) Mormon Church. a patriarch.
6. a person marked by evangelical enthusiasm for or support of any cause.

Evangelist

¹

/ ɪˈvændʒɪlɪst /

noun

1. any of the writers of the New Testament Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John
2. a senior official or dignitary of the Mormon Church

evangelist

²

/ ɪˈvændʒɪlɪst /

noun

1. an occasional preacher, sometimes itinerant and often preaching at meetings in the open air
2. a preacher of the Christian gospel
3. any zealous advocate of a cause
4. another word for revivalist

Word History and Origins

Origin of evangelist¹

1125–75; Middle English evangeliste < Latin evangelista < Greek euangelistḗs. See evangel ¹, -ist

Example Sentences

Shears went on to thank his family, friends, collaborators — and the show’s eponymous evangelist, whose life rights John and his husband, David Furnish, acquired 12 years ago.

From Los Angeles Times

Last year, on the Christian show FlashPoint, TV evangelist Hank Kunneman described “a battle between good and evil”, adding: “There's something on President Trump that the enemy fears: it's called the anointing.”

From BBC

Lin, who produced films including “It” and “The Lego Movie,” is not an evangelist for the theatrical model.

From Los Angeles Times

By the 1970s, however, Christian private schools outnumbered the nonsectarian ones, which inspired political activism among Christian evangelists who had shown little political interest previously.

From Los Angeles Times

After “Dog Eat Dog,” a dreamy yet percussive soft-rock song about “snakebite evangelists and racketeers and bigwig financiers,” Mitchell said she wished she could vote in the upcoming presidential election.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• missionary
• pastor
• televangelist