as in populated
to supply with inhabitants
believes that someday humans will be sent to colonize Mars
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Recent Examples of colonized
When news of Israel’s secret outposts in Iraq’s desert emerged, Iraqis admonished their leaders as traitors, and the boisterous militiamen affiliated with the government as impostors for allowing their land to be colonized by an enemy.
—
Nabil Salih, Time, 26 May 2026
Education, from preschool to college, is being colonized by for-profit owners.
—Chris Murphy, The Atlantic, 20 May 2026
These are not throwaway virtues in 2026, when the world is increasingly colonized by soulless vertical drama templates and is emptied of literacies, as seen when college students struggle to make any sense of the first seven paragraphs of a Dickens novel.
—Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 17 May 2026
For instance, the island of the Cyclopes could be modern Sicily, which was colonized by the Greeks in the 8th century bce, or Crete.
—Gitanjali Roy, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Apr. 2026
Viewed from certain perspectives—the perspective of history, the perspective of the roughly one quarter of the world that was once colonized by Britain—London is a metropolis built on crime.
—Mark O’Connell, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
From the moment the Dutch colonized the area in the 17th century, disposing of trash has vexed New York City leaders, recognized as heroes when the city somehow gets clean and villainized when the trash piles soar.
—Tim Craig The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 5 Apr. 2026
The family lives on the Caribbean island of Martinique, which was colonized first by the Spanish and then the French in 1635.
—Madeleine Janz, PEOPLE, 1 Apr. 2026
Life only became complex, differentiated, and colonized the continental land on Earth a few hundred million years ago.
—Big Think, 17 Feb. 2026
Nabil Salih, Time, 26 May 2026
Education, from preschool to college, is being colonized by for-profit owners.
—Chris Murphy, The Atlantic, 20 May 2026
These are not throwaway virtues in 2026, when the world is increasingly colonized by soulless vertical drama templates and is emptied of literacies, as seen when college students struggle to make any sense of the first seven paragraphs of a Dickens novel.
—Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 17 May 2026
For instance, the island of the Cyclopes could be modern Sicily, which was colonized by the Greeks in the 8th century bce, or Crete.
—Gitanjali Roy, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Apr. 2026
Viewed from certain perspectives—the perspective of history, the perspective of the roughly one quarter of the world that was once colonized by Britain—London is a metropolis built on crime.
—Mark O’Connell, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
From the moment the Dutch colonized the area in the 17th century, disposing of trash has vexed New York City leaders, recognized as heroes when the city somehow gets clean and villainized when the trash piles soar.
—Tim Craig The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 5 Apr. 2026
The family lives on the Caribbean island of Martinique, which was colonized first by the Spanish and then the French in 1635.
—Madeleine Janz, PEOPLE, 1 Apr. 2026
Life only became complex, differentiated, and colonized the continental land on Earth a few hundred million years ago.
—Big Think, 17 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colonized
Verb
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My previous novel was populated by Christian believers who, by and large, didn’t lose their religion.—
Deborah Treisman,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
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But in other parts of the world, fires are springing up with less warning and more ferocity—in many cases, directly threatening areas densely populated by humans.—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
1 June 2026
Verb
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Field plays Tova Sullivan, a widowed, allegedly elderly woman who, because she is inhabited by the still-spunky actress, never quite seems elderly enough.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
30 May 2026
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Griner’s next free throw or basket will take her to the 6,000 point milestone, a hallowed group that is inhabited by only 18 players.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
26 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Colonized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colonized. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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