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View synonyms for preach

preach

[ preech ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to proclaim or make known by sermon (the gospel, good tidings, etc.).
  2. to deliver (a sermon).
  3. to advocate or inculcate (religious or moral truth, right conduct, etc.) in speech or writing.


verb (used without object)

  1. to deliver a sermon.
  2. to give earnest advice, as on religious or moral subjects or the like.

    Synonyms: expound, pronounce, profess, advocate

  3. to give earnest advice in an obtrusive or tedious way.

preach

/ priːtʃ /

verb

  1. to make known (religious truth) or give religious or moral instruction or exhortation in (sermons)
  2. to advocate (a virtue, action, etc), esp in a moralizing way
“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
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Derived Forms

  • ˈpreachable, adjective
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Other Words From

  • out·preach verb (used with object)
  • un·preached adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of preach1

1175–1225; Middle English prechen < Old French pre ( ë ) chier < Late Latin praedicāre to preach ( Latin: to assert publicly, proclaim). See predicate
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Word History and Origins

Origin of preach1

C13: from Old French prechier, from Church Latin praedicāre, from Latin: to proclaim in public; see predicate
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. preach to the choir. preach to the choir.

More idioms and phrases containing preach

In addition to the idiom beginning with preach , also see practice what you preach .
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Example Sentences

Special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn preached patience, saying: “We’ve got to work through it.”

He gained a reputation for filling churches with his charismatic preaching.

From BBC

Although some were operating in insurgency-hit countries like Burkina Faso, others had been sent back to their villages in northern Ghana to preach their "radical faith", it added.

From BBC

It’s in the birth of a Jewish Rabbi who preached tolerance and was condemned to death more than 2,000 years ago by a Roman governor.

From Salon

But I don’t want to preach because I feel that we’re already so incredibly divided as a country that if I start preaching my politics, I’m going to essentially alienate 50% of the population.

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Related Words

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.

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pre-preacher