pastoral
having the simplicity, charm, serenity, or other characteristics generally attributed to rural areas: pastoral scenery; the pastoral life.
pertaining to the country or to life in the country; rural; rustic.
portraying or suggesting idyllically the life of shepherds or of the country, as a work of literature, art, or music: pastoral poetry; a pastoral symphony.
of, relating to, or consisting of shepherds.
used for pasture, as land.
a poem, play, or the like, dealing with the life of shepherds, commonly in a conventional or artificial manner, or with simple rural life generally; a bucolic.
a picture or work of art representing the shepherds' life.
Music. pastorale.
a treatise on the duties of a pastor.
a letter to the people from their spiritual pastor.
a letter to the clergy or people of an ecclesiastical district from its bishop.
Also called pastoral staff . crosier (def. 1).
Origin of pastoral
1Other words for pastoral
Other words from pastoral
- pas·to·ral·ly, adverb
- non·pas·to·ral, adjective, noun
- non·pas·to·ral·ly, adverb
- sem·i·pas·to·ral, adjective
- sem·i·pas·to·ral·ly, adverb
- un·pas·to·ral, adjective
- un·pas·to·ral·ly, adverb
Words that may be confused with pastoral
- pastoral , pastorale
Words Nearby pastoral
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use pastoral in a sentence
Takeda’s video-collage shuttles rapidly through various photo-based locations, usually urban but occasionally as pastoral as in previous year’s shows.
In the galleries: A multi-sensory exhibit with cherry blossoms and a dire warning | Mark Jenkins | July 30, 2021 | Washington PostAn example that I’m aware of was a big wind farm in Kenya, and it was on pastoral land belonging to pastoralists.
Two (Totally Opposite) Ways to Save the Planet (Ep. 346 Rebroadcast) | Stephen J. Dubner | July 29, 2021 | FreakonomicsThese aren’t the idyllic, pastoral farms we’re taught to picture as children, with birds free to wander around in the greenery.
It’s hard to make chickenless chicken delicious. Has Beyond Meat cracked the code? | Sigal Samuel | July 9, 2021 | VoxFor a short stroll or run, check out pastoral Harmon Canyon Preserve, which slices through the mountainous foothills perched at the city’s northern edge.
The Ultimate Channel Islands National Park Travel Guide | Shawnté Salabert | June 23, 2021 | Outside OnlineThose posts cite prominent conversion “therapists” and include a video with advice for conversion therapy practitioners and others that falsely suggest “Schema therapy” and “professionals and pastoral mentors” can successfully change LGBTQ people.
5 things social media platforms can do to combat anti-LGBTQ disinformation | Brianna January | January 7, 2021 | Washington Blade
He is to be admired for his kindness and genuine pastoral concern for all the members of his flock.
Pope Francis Pushes the Church Another Step Further on Gays | Gene Robinson | October 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe carriage drivers insist that a great majority of their horses live to enjoy a pastoral retirement.
Fast forward about 20 years, and this American pastoral image of college seems, for the average college student, an ancient dream.
The Price of College Has Increased 1120 Percent Since 1978, So Is It Worth It? | Andrew Rossi | January 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt is a novel of suspense and secrets, a pastoral novel that slowly tears the pastoral apart.
For most of the year, pastoral Pag is home to roughly eight thousand residents and thirty thousand indigenous sheep.
Party on in Pag: The Controversy on Croatia’s Hottest Island | Kristin Vukovic | August 25, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe abnormal rise in wages had the bad effect of inducing the natives to leave their pastoral pursuits to flock into the towns.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanAlàri, too, offers a marvellously carved wooden cup, adorned with pastoral scenes.
Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred DownerCan you imagine anything more pastoral than a traffic in cream and butter and eggs?
The Seven Cardinal Sins: Envy and Indolence | Eugne SueStowmarket, as I have said, had the honour of being placed under the pastoral care of one of these Smectymnian divines.
East Anglia | J. Ewing RitchieIn addition Broken Hill is the centre of one of the largest pastoral districts in Australia.
British Dictionary definitions for pastoral
/ (ˈpɑːstərəl) /
of, characterized by, or depicting rural life, scenery, etc
(of a literary work) dealing with an idealized form of rural existence in a conventional way
(of land) used for pasture
denoting or relating to the branch of theology dealing with the duties of a clergyman or priest to his congregation
of or relating to a clergyman or priest in charge of a congregation or his duties as such
of or relating to a teacher's responsibility for the personal, as the distinct from the educational, development of pupils
of or relating to shepherds, their work, etc
Christianity
a letter from a clergyman to the people under his charge
the letter of a bishop to the clergy or people of his diocese
Also called: pastoral staff the crosier or staff carried by a bishop as a symbol of his pastoral responsibilities
Origin of pastoral
1Derived forms of pastoral
- pastoralism, noun
- pastorally, adverb
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
Cultural definitions for pastoral
A work of art that celebrates the cultivated enjoyment of the countryside. The poem “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” by Christopher Marlowe, is a pastoral. Its first stanza reads:
Come live with me, and be my love;
And we will all the pleasures prove
That hills and valleys, dales and fields,
Woods or steepy mountain yields.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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