as in settlers
a person who settles in a new region
over time the colonists began to sense that they were becoming a people unto themselves
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Recent Examples of colonists
Canons and more were taken from the fort to Boston to bolster the colonists there.
—
USA Today, 6 May 2026
This surely confirmed the colonists’ sense of their own importance.
—Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
In 2023 the district changed the names of three schools which were named after colonists who aided in the genocide of Native Americans in California’s early history.
—Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 1 May 2026
Arjun is part of Echelon IV, tasked with determining what happened to the colonists.
—Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 30 Apr. 2026
Native to Eurasia, they were brought to North America by early colonists for food and medicine at the time of the Mayflower, according to the National Library of Medicine.
—Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 30 Apr. 2026
The Courant has reported, most colonists were not exactly mesmerized by the notion of severing ties with the mother country.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 27 Apr. 2026
But within three years, the site was found abandoned and its colonists dead — earning the name Port Famine.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 27 Apr. 2026
Today, Americans might be even more sharply divided about religion than the colonists of 1776.
—Thomas Tweed, The Conversation, 24 Apr. 2026
USA Today, 6 May 2026
This surely confirmed the colonists’ sense of their own importance.
—Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
In 2023 the district changed the names of three schools which were named after colonists who aided in the genocide of Native Americans in California’s early history.
—Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 1 May 2026
Arjun is part of Echelon IV, tasked with determining what happened to the colonists.
—Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 30 Apr. 2026
Native to Eurasia, they were brought to North America by early colonists for food and medicine at the time of the Mayflower, according to the National Library of Medicine.
—Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 30 Apr. 2026
The Courant has reported, most colonists were not exactly mesmerized by the notion of severing ties with the mother country.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 27 Apr. 2026
But within three years, the site was found abandoned and its colonists dead — earning the name Port Famine.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 27 Apr. 2026
Today, Americans might be even more sharply divided about religion than the colonists of 1776.
—Thomas Tweed, The Conversation, 24 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colonists
Noun
-
There’s nothing inherently antisemitic about protesting over the dispossession of Palestinians, and the attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank by settlers, which appear to be sanctioned by the Israeli government.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
7 May 2026
-
By then, the salubrious environment that Central Florida’s earliest settlers found had already been transformed many times over.—
Stephen Hudak,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
He’s known as one of the pioneers of minimalism, a style which focuses on repetition and structure.—
Liz Rothaus Bertrand,
Charlotte Observer,
6 May 2026
-
Prebiotic sodas have moved from niche wellness shelves to mainstream supermarket fridges, with Coca-Cola and Pepsi now competing alongside category pioneers Olipop and Poppi.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
5 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Colonists.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colonists. Accessed 10 May. 2026.
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