Religion is too important a matter to its devotees to be a subject of ridicule. If they indulge in absurdities, they are to be pitied rather than ridiculed.
Source: tatoeba (891118)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Keep "devotees" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "devotees" intact in the sentence you are editing.
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
After choosing a replacement for "devotees", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "devotees" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
6 total sentences available.
Religion is too important a matter to its devotees to be a subject of ridicule. If they indulge in absurdities, they are to be pitied rather than ridiculed.
Source: tatoeba (891118)
The devotees of Vishnu are called Vaishnavas; the devotees of Shiva are Shaivites.
Source: tatoeba (4240157)
The devotees witnessed the miracle with their own eyes.
Source: tatoeba (8750618)
One could argue that with the thick, complex, contradictory book which is the Bible, God intended nothing more than to make clear to his devotees that there is nothing has the One Truth.
Source: tatoeba (11177464)
Showing 4 of 6 available sentences.
Closest matches include adherents, advocates, aficionados, buddhists, champions.
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.