denizen

noun

den·​i·​zen ˈde-nə-zən 

1

: inhabitant

denizens of the forest

2

government : a person admitted to residence in a foreign country

especially : an alien (see alien entry 2 sense 1b) admitted to rights of citizenship

3

: one that frequents a place

nightclub denizens

Synonyms

• familiar
• frequenter
• habitué
• habitue
• haunter
• rat
• regular

Examples of denizen in a Sentence

one of those muscle-bound denizens of the gym

the polar bear is an iconic denizen of the snowy Arctic

Recent Examples on the Web

The Paper, a spinoff of The Office, follows the denizens of a struggling Toledo newspaper in the same mockumentary style as its predecessor. —EW.com, 14 May 2025

Two-hundred years after the apocalypse, the gentle denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind—and are shocked to discover an incredibly complex, gleefully weird, and highly violent universe waiting for them. —Jeremy Hanna, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 May 2025

For the rural denizens of ZIP Code 94924, the reopening is a major victory — especially given President Trump’s musings about privatizing the Postal Service, which lost $9.5 billion in the 2024 fiscal year and is cutting thousands of jobs. —Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2025

But with the federal government considering sweeping rollbacks to environmental protections, tomorrow many may wonder: How will the bright green water affect the underwater denizens? —Chicago Tribune, 14 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English denizeine, from Anglo-French denisein, denzein inhabitant, inner part, inner, from denz within, from Late Latin deintus, from Latin de- + intus within — more at ent-

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

denizen

noun

den·​i·​zen ˈden-ə-zən 

: inhabitant

especially : a person, animal, or plant found in a particular region or environment