Synonyms of colonial

colonial 1 of 2

adjective

kə-ˈlō-nē-əl 

as in social

tending to group with others of the same kind

colonial organisms

Synonyms & Similar Words

• social
• parasitic
• associational
• dependent
• gregarious
• sociable
• consociational
• symbiotic
• subsocial
• precocial

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• solitary
• independent
• nonsocial
• autonomous
• semiautonomous
• self-contained
• self-sufficient
• semi-independent
• altricial
• reclusive
• lone
• unsociable
• self-sustaining
• self-supporting
• self-subsistent
• recluse

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

• settler
• pioneer
• colonist
• colonizer
• frontiersman
• homesteader
• explorer
• pathfinder
• mountain man
• woodsman
• bushranger
• trailblazer

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of colonial

Adjective

The documentary revisits France’s first atomic bomb detonation on February 13, 1960 close to the remote town of Reggane in the heart of the Sahara Desert in Algeria, at a time when the country was still under French colonial rule. — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 30 Oct. 2026

And yet these engravings are informed by the artist’s signature subversive irony, incorporating French aristocratic styles to elevate Haitians bent on destroying French colonial power. — Elisa Turner, Miami Herald, 29 Oct. 2026

Noun

The neighbors, who had till then lived in a conventional suburban setting — two-story colonials, wide lawns — were appalled. — Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 21 Oct. 2026

Directed by Yohane Dean Lengol and Hamed Mobasser, Rumba Royale is set in 1959 Leopoldville, the former capital of Belgian Congo (which is now called Kinshasa), in the final months of Belgian colonial rule. — Diana Lodderhose, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2026