colonial 1 of 2

Definition of colonialnext

colonial

2 of 2

noun

as in settler
a person who settles in a new region European colonials who built coffee plantations in East Africa

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 colonial
Adjective
Many of these institutes were established by the colonial power in contexts shaped by empire, trade, war, and epidemic disease. Guy Vernet, STAT, 9 Apr. 2026 Standing in the shadow of the Philadelphia skyline in Camden, Revolutionary War reenactors and the colonial town crier helped South Jersey step back in time to celebrate our nation's 250th birthday. Sean Tallant, CBS News, 8 Apr. 2026
Noun
Also included for review were exhibits at the Annaberg Sugar Plantation, an 18th-century colonial site active during the Atlantic slave trade. Madison Dapcevich, Outside, 11 Mar. 2026 The restaurant is named after the English word for bangla or a single-story home, coined during India’s colonial past to indicate a particular style of house that included spacious verandahs, overhanging roofs, and large gardens. Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for colonial
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colonial
Adjective
  • Whatever the current state of social relations on the set may be, the movies themselves have stratified, in the same way that economic relations have done in the twenty-first century.
    Richard Brody, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
  • Baena wrote in a social media post celebrating his winning streak.
    Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Named for the Kiawah people who called this island home when British settlers first arrived in 1670, Kiawah Island fronts the Atlantic with ten miles of beach.
    Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Apr. 2026
  • Also present on the land in the 1800s were the descendants of Spanish settlers.
    Anna Alejo, CBS News, 7 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Close has said that sharing a UCLA championship with Meyers Drysdale and other pioneers who paved the way for her program would be special.
    ABC News, ABC News, 5 Apr. 2026
  • In other words, the hybrid pioneer has finally grown up.
    Sponsored Content, Denver Post, 4 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Portugal and Germany in Southern Africa For much of the 19th century, Portuguese colonists in Angola and Mozambique were fewer in number and weaker in authority than those in the interior of South Africa.
    Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The early colonists were very much anti-idol worshippers and even modern Catholics, as Vice President Vance surely knows, have long been criticized by their Protestant counterparts for a love of statuary, reliquaries and other iconography that some have argued fall into idolatry.
    Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Colonial.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colonial. Accessed 11 Apr. 2026.

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