ANTI-FOREIGN Synonyms: 15 Similar and Opposite Words

anti-foreign

adjective

Definition of anti-foreign

as in xenophobic

Related Words

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Dissimilar Words

internationalist

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of anti-foreign From Xi Jinping’s quest to regain China’s glory, to Vladimir Putin’s attempts at a new Russian empire, to the rise of populist anti-foreign attitudes in the United States, Britain, Germany, and France, negative views of others underpin many of the conflicts in today’s world. — Literary Hub, 27 May 2026 Demilitarizing those areas now would mean surrendering the CCP’s solemn mission to make China whole again and, consequently, diminishing its ability to use anti-foreign nationalism as a source of legitimacy. — Michael Beckley, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023 This kind of nationalism is often a mixture of utopianism and anti-foreign sentiment, elements shared by the movement that birthed the Chinese Communist Party. — Ian Buruma, Harper's Magazine, 11 Jan. 2022

Recent Examples of Synonyms for anti-foreign

Adjective

Latinos have been not only frequent targets of nativism and xenophobic violence but also supporters — regularly enforcers — of it.

— Eladio Bobadilla, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2026
Published a year after the start of the Iraq War, Foer’s rosy look at globalization was already passé as the US took on a more aggressive, hostile, and xenophobic posture to the rest of the world.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 July 2026

Definition of xenophobic

Adjective

The tension between the need for new workers and resurgent nativist politics will influence who comes, who settles and who is counted among the ancestors of future generations.

— Albert Sun, New York Times, 2 July 2026
Driven by the same nativist and xenophobic ideas, the United States adopted the Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924, which ended mass immigration by introducing national-origin quotas designed to favor Northern and Western Europeans and exclude nonwhite immigrants almost entirely.

— M. Gessen, Mercury News, 11 June 2026

Definition of nativist

Adjective

Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong.

— Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 31 July 2026
The mine wars were omitted from West Virginia school textbooks, replaced with a patriotic version of the coal industry’s history.

— Elijah TanAll, Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 July 2026

Definition of patriotic

Adjective

Castillo — no relation to Luis — nevertheless defended his agents’ use of anti-immigrant words.

— Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2026
Those claims have mushroomed on social media and have been echoed by right-leaning politicians, often tied to anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim views.

— ABC News, ABC News, 23 July 2026