preach
To speak in church or a similar place and give a religious talk to people.
To publicly deliver a religious sermon or message, especially in a church or other place of worship.
To talk again and again saying that an idea or way of living is very important and good.
To speak or write in a strong and repeated way in support of a particular idea, value, or way of living.
To speak to someone again and again, telling them how they should live, in a way that feels annoying or like you are better than them.
To talk to someone in a bossy or self-righteous way about what they should or should not do, especially so often that it becomes annoying.
An informal word said to show you strongly agree with what another person just said.
Used to show strong, enthusiastic agreement with what someone has just said, especially about a shared problem or opinion.
- Base: preach
- 3rd Person Singular: preaches
- Present Participle: preaching
- Past: preached
practice what you preach
1do what you tell others to do
To do the things that you tell other people are right or important.
- If you tell your kids not to shout, you should practice what you preach.
- The manager talks about work–life balance but doesn’t practice what he preaches.
- Voters want leaders who practice what they preach.
practice what you preach
1Do what you say others should
Do the same good things you tell others to do.
- If you want your team to be punctual, you need to practice what you preach.
- She tells everyone to be kind, but she doesn’t always practice what she preaches.
- You should practice what you preach.
preach against
1speak strongly against something
To speak strongly, again and again, saying that something is bad or wrong.
- The leader often preaches against corruption.
- They preach against violence in all their public talks.
preach at someone
1lecture someone in a moralizing way
To speak to someone in a bossy or annoying way, telling them how they should live.
- She’s always preaching at me about my diet.
- He hates it when people preach at him about his lifestyle.
preach forgiveness
1strongly promote forgiveness
To speak many times about why people should forgive others.
- She preaches forgiveness even after great hurt.
- The pastor preached forgiveness after the conflict in the community.
preach peace
1strongly promote peace
To speak many times about why people should be peaceful and not violent.
- Community leaders preached peace after the protests.
- He travels the world preaching peace and understanding.
preach to the converted
1argue to people who already agree
To try to convince people who already agree with your idea.
- You don’t need to convince me about animal rights; you’re preaching to the converted.
- When he spoke about the value of education at a teachers’ meeting, he was preaching to the converted.
preach the gospel
1spread the Christian gospel
To teach people about the Christian message of Jesus, usually in a religious way.
- Missionaries traveled across the region to preach the gospel.
- The missionaries traveled across the country to preach the gospel in small towns.
- He felt called to leave his job and preach the gospel full-time.
- They use social media to preach the gospel to a younger audience.
preach to the choir
1persuade people who already agree
To talk in order to change someone’s mind, when that person already agrees with you.
- Telling environmentalists that climate change is real is like preaching to the choir.
- If you’re telling me that climate change is real, you’re preaching to the choir.
- You don’t need to tell me recycling is important—you’re preaching to the choir.
- You don’t need to explain that to me—you’re preaching to the choir.
- Don’t bother explaining recycling to her; you’re preaching to the choir.
- When she warned us about exam stress, the teacher was preaching to the choir; we were already worried.
- He realized he was preaching to the choir and decided to end the speech early.
- If you complain about low pay to other workers, you’re just preaching to the choir.