foreigner

noun

for·​eign·​er ˈfȯr-ə-nər How to pronounce foreigner (audio)
ˈfär-
1
: a person belonging to or owing allegiance to a foreign country
2
chiefly dialectal : one not native to a place or community : stranger sense 1c

Example Sentences

I can tell by your accent you're a foreigner in these parts.
Recent Examples on the Web That's based on $10 million in payments from foreigners in Romania and China to Biden relatives and their business associates. Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 11 May 2023 Americans, being a civilized and humane people, have always lent a hand and offered hospitality to foreigners genuinely suffering depredations in their less-civilized home nations. Hugo Gurdon, Washington Examiner, 5 May 2023 For many Sudanese, the departure of foreigners and closure of embassies is a terrifying sign that international powers expect a worsening of the fighting that has already pushed the population into disaster. Samy Magdy, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Apr. 2023 Khartoum’s wealthy neighborhoods where most foreigners live saw some of the heaviest shelling and drone strikes, and several fell under RSF control. Jack Jeffery And Noha Elhennawy, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Apr. 2023 At least 19 Israelis and foreigners have died, according to Reuters. Shira Pinson, NBC News, 12 Apr. 2023 Today, the city of two million is an international gateway for travelers headed to famous ski destinations like Niseko, a high-toned village catering mostly to foreigners. Hisako Ueno, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2023 On matters of national security, U.S. Big Tech is under its own government’s thumb—companies like Meta and Alphabet have to secretly comply with U.S. intelligence requests for foreigners’ personal data. David Meyer, Fortune, 2 Mar. 2023 By then, an exodus of foreigners from Khartoum was underway. Declan Walsh, New York Times, 5 May 2023 See More

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

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of foreigner was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near foreigner

Cite this Entry

“Foreigner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foreigner. Accessed 6 Jun. 2023.

Kids Definition

foreigner

noun
for·​eign·​er ˈfȯr-ə-nər How to pronounce foreigner (audio)
ˈfär-
: a person who is from a foreign country

More from Merriam-Webster on foreigner

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