expatriate

1 of 3

verb

ex·​pa·​tri·​ate ek-ˈspā-trē-ˌāt How to pronounce expatriate (audio)
expatriated; expatriating

transitive verb

1
2
: to withdraw (oneself) from residence in or allegiance to one's native country

intransitive verb

: to leave one's native country to live elsewhere
also : to renounce allegiance to one's native country

expatriate

2 of 3

adjective

ex·​pa·​tri·​ate ek-ˈspā-trē-ət How to pronounce expatriate (audio) -trē-ˌāt How to pronounce expatriate (audio)
: living in a foreign land

expatriate

3 of 3

noun

ex·​pa·​tri·​ate ek-ˈspā-trē-ət How to pronounce expatriate (audio) -trē-ˌāt How to pronounce expatriate (audio)
: a person who lives in a foreign country
Hemingway himself in The Sun Also Rises, 1926, had given the picture of the dislocated life of young English and American expatriates in the bars of Paris, the "lost generation," as Gertrude Stein defined them.Robert Penn Warren

Examples of expatriate in a Sentence

Verb members of the deposed dictator's once-feared political party were expatriated as well
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Turgenev was also one of the earliest Russian writers to be lionized by Westerners—not just by close friends like Flaubert but also by later figures (some of them expatriates themselves), such as Henry James and Joseph Conrad. The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024 These men had not fallen in love with the Caribbean island on a beach vacation or expatriated there for a simpler life. Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2023 The pair of writers have an interesting connection to the island country that’s part of the Republic of China: Lin was born there and raised in Los Angeles while Wei was born in L.A. and expatriated to Taipei. Danielle Dorsey, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2023 The biography is centered on the married couple Gerald and Sara Murphy, wealthy Americans who expatriated in the nineteen-twenties and devoted themselves to cultivating a bohemian life style in France. The New Yorker, 9 July 2023 Leishmaniasis is rare in northern Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and had not been described as an endemic infection in the locals, expatriate guest workers or any of the Allied troops stationed in the region during World War II. Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 4 Nov. 2011 Dubai boasts a variety of bars, nightclubs and lounges that attract many visitors and well-to-do expatriate residents. Mariam Fam, ajc, 20 Nov. 2022 Her network of Black travelers boasts 20,000 members who've visited regions all over the world – 19% of the community have also chosen to expatriate. Keturah Kendrick, USA TODAY, 18 Apr. 2022 The city is now a tourist and expatriate destination. Peter Canby, The New Yorker, 10 Jan. 2022
Adjective
According to Martínez, the Venezuelan diaspora is more politically engaged than other expatriate communities. Lautaro Grinspan, NBC News, 19 Jan. 2024 The soon-to-open BAPS Hindu Mandir signals how far the United Arab Emirates has come in acknowledging the different faiths of its expatriate community, long dominated by Indians across construction sites and boardrooms. Jon Gambrell, Quartz, 12 Feb. 2024 Turkey says Iranian intelligence was behind elaborate plot to kidnap opponent in Istanbul The Iranian government in recent years has been accused of coordinating a string of daring plots to assassinate and abduct expatriate Iranians critical of it. Victoria Bisset, Washington Post, 30 Jan. 2024 In 2014 and 2019 the expatriate vote was handled by mail. Soudi Jiménez, Los Angeles Times, 27 Dec. 2023 In a white paper this year, the American Chamber of Commerce in China said 51% of members participating in an annual survey had said that their top expatriate candidates were unwilling to move to the country, up 21% from the previous year. Emiko Jozuka, CNN, 20 Oct. 2023 The two expatriate students worked together serving food in the campus cafeteria. Robert Draper, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2023 After 43 days on the run, and allegedly changing her appearance and adopting a new name, Costa Rican police arrested her in an idyllic beach town known for its expatriate population. Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 12 Oct. 2023 Yet his remarks during the question-and-answer session Tuesday were unusual for their candor about the Kremlin’s malign attitude toward the United States, according to expatriate Russian critics. Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner, 12 Sep. 2023
Noun
At the height of the global pandemic, as Dubai faced an exodus of expatriates and mounting competition from neighboring business hubs, the government opened up. Zainab Fattah, Fortune, 19 Feb. 2024 The referendum has been underway since 2021, making stops in important Sikh expatriate hubs such as England, Australia, and Canada. Joe Rubin, Sacramento Bee, 25 Jan. 2024 That left a single match, between a British team and a French team made up mostly of British expatriates. Victor Mather, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2023 Lindgren was 24 in 1929 when she and other expatriates were ousted from Manchuria by the looming Soviet threat. Naï Zakharia, New York Times, 23 Dec. 2023 The following day was a big travel day for the tens of thousands of expatriates who’d returned to Lebanon for the holidays and were heading back to their lives abroad. Kim Ghattas, The Atlantic, 26 Jan. 2024 Private health care in Malta is recommended for non-EU expatriates, and is both highly rated and inexpensive compared to U.S. options. Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 17 Jan. 2024 For these reasons, many expatriates prefer to hold the bulk of their assets in U.S.-based accounts and transfer money to a local account as needed. Bob Carlson, Forbes, 20 Apr. 2023 In 1984 a group of Libyan expatriates, most of them students, gathered outside the Libyan embassy in St. James’s Square in London to peacefully protest the dictatorship of Moammar Gadhafi. Sam Sacks, WSJ, 5 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'expatriate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Medieval Latin expatriatus, past participle of expatriare to leave one's own country, from Latin ex- + patria native country, from feminine of patrius of a father, from patr-, pater father — more at father

First Known Use

Verb

1768, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Adjective

1812, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1818, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of expatriate was in 1768

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Dictionary Entries Near expatriate

Cite this Entry

“Expatriate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/expatriate. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

expatriate

1 of 3 verb
ex·​pa·​tri·​ate ek-ˈspā-trē-ˌāt How to pronounce expatriate (audio)
expatriated; expatriating

expatriate

2 of 3 adjective
ex·​pa·​tri·​ate ek-ˈspā-trē-ˌāt How to pronounce expatriate (audio)
-trē-ət
: living in a foreign country

expatriate

3 of 3 noun
ex·​pa·​tri·​ate
ek-ˈspā-trē-ˌāt,
-trē-ət
: a person living in a foreign country
especially : one who has renounced his or her native country

Legal Definition

expatriate

verb
ex·​pa·​tri·​ate ek-ˈspā-trē-ˌāt How to pronounce expatriate (audio)
expatriated; expatriating

transitive verb

: to voluntarily withdraw (oneself) from allegiance to one's native country

intransitive verb

: to renounce allegiance to one's country and abandon one's nationality voluntarily
expatriate
-trē-ət
noun
expatriation noun

More from Merriam-Webster on expatriate

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