evangelical

evangelical — adjective

1. belonging to a branch of Protestant Christianity that holds the Bible as the sup

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

belonging to a branch of Protestant Christianity that holds the Bible as the supreme spiritual guide and considers spreading the faith a central duty.

Example

The evangelical church on Elm Street runs a weekly food bank for the neighborhood.

collocation: evangelical church

Niran grew up in an evangelical household where Bible study was held every evening.

Common collocations
  • evangelical church
  • evangelical Christian
  • evangelical faith
  • evangelical movement
  • evangelical beliefs
Synonyms
  • Protestant

    broader category; evangelical is a subset within Protestantism

  • born-again

    emphasizes personal conversion experience rather than theological doctrine

  • fundamentalist

    similar but often implies stricter biblical literalism and can carry a negative tone

Antonyms
  • secular

    not connected with religion or religious authority

Grammar Patterns

evangelical + noun (church, Christian, movement, faith)

Usage Note

Frequently used as an attributive adjective before nouns such as 'church', 'Christian', 'beliefs', or 'movement'. Can also appear predicatively — 'She is evangelical' — but this is less common.

Common Mistakes

He is an evangelical Catholic priest.
He is an evangelical Protestant pastor.
'evangelical' describes a tradition within Protestantism, not Catholicism.

2. showing intense dedication to a cause, belief, or idea, combined with a strong u

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

showing intense dedication to a cause, belief, or idea, combined with a strong urge to persuade others to share it.

Example

Femi is evangelical about reducing plastic waste and lectures everyone at work about it.

pattern: evangelical + about + issue

The senator's evangelical zeal for education reform won over many skeptics.

collocation: evangelical zeal

Common collocations
  • evangelical about
  • evangelical zeal
  • evangelical enthusiasm
  • evangelical supporters
Synonyms
  • zealous

    similar intensity but less tied to religious origins

  • passionate

    strong feeling without the missionary urge to convert others

  • crusading

    more dramatic; carries a historical metaphor of religious warfare

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

evangelical + about + noun / gerund

Usage Note

Subject is often a person, but can also be an abstract noun such as 'zeal', 'enthusiasm', or 'support' when describing fervent commitment to a cause. Not typically used with everyday hobbies (e.g. 'evangelical about cooking' sounds unnatural).

Common Mistakes

She is evangelical about learning French.
She is very enthusiastic about learning French.
The zealous sense of 'evangelical' works best with ideological or social causes, not personal skill-building.

evangelical — noun

Word family

  • evangelicalism
    nounC1
  • evangelist
    nounC1
  • evangelistic
    adjectiveC1
  • evangelize
    verbC1
  • evangelism
    nounC1
  • evangel
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four terms relate to Christian traditions that treat the Bible as authoritative, but they differ in scope and emphasis. 'Protestant' is the broadest category, covering any Western Christian tradition not under the Roman Catholic or Orthodox umbrella. 'Evangelical' is a subset of Protestantism that stresses personal conversion ('being born again') and active evangelism. 'Fundamentalist' overlaps with evangelical but typically implies a stricter stance on biblical inerrancy and a more confrontational posture toward modern secular culture, which can carry a negative tone. 'Born-again' focuses on the individual experience of conversion rather than a denominational label — one can be a born-again Catholic or a born-again evangelical. In everyday usage, 'He's an evangelical Christian' identifies someone's church tradition, while 'He's a born-again Christian' describes how they came to faith. 'Fundamentalist' is best reserved for contexts where literal interpretation and resistance to change are the key features.

evangelical ↗Protestant ↗fundamentalistborn-again

Common collocations

Nouns

  • evangelical church
  • evangelical Christian
  • evangelical movement
  • evangelical faith
  • evangelical tradition

Adverbs

  • deeply evangelical
  • devoutly evangelical
  • staunchly evangelical

Phrases

  • evangelical community
  • evangelical voter
  • evangelical leader

Prepositions

  • evangelical about

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

The word 'evangelical' traces back through French 'évangélique' and Latin 'evangelium' to the ancient Greek 'euangelion' (εὐαγγέλιον), meaning 'good news' — the same root as 'evangelist', 'evangelize', and 'angel'. In English it was first used during the 1500s to describe anything related to the Gospel message. During the Protestant Reformation it became tied to churches that rejected papal authority and placed the Bible at the centre of faith. The broader, non-religious sense meaning 'zealous about a cause' developed in the 1800s as the word expanded beyond its original Christian context.