as in settler
a person who settles in a new region
the first colonizers of Easter Island must have faced untold challenges
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Recent Examples of colonizer
After 15 years, Spanish troops dispersed the settlement—which had grown to 4,000, and had its own cavalry—but subsequent maroon groups forced colonizers to sign treaties with them.
—
Laurent Dubois, The Atlantic, 6 Jan. 2026
Alcohol has devastated generations of Indigenous peoples in the Americas ever since it was introduced by colonizers.
—Frank Vaisvilas, jsonline.com, 22 Dec. 2025
They were built by Europeans – the Spanish colonizers.
—Jeanne Bonner, CNN Money, 19 Dec. 2025
Fire and Ash finds the threat from the human RDA colonizers looming over Pandora as Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) grieve the loss of their eldest son.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colonizer
Laurent Dubois, The Atlantic, 6 Jan. 2026
Alcohol has devastated generations of Indigenous peoples in the Americas ever since it was introduced by colonizers.
—Frank Vaisvilas, jsonline.com, 22 Dec. 2025
They were built by Europeans – the Spanish colonizers.
—Jeanne Bonner, CNN Money, 19 Dec. 2025
Fire and Ash finds the threat from the human RDA colonizers looming over Pandora as Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) grieve the loss of their eldest son.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colonizer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colonizer
Noun
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What settler stole this sacred land and is now charging me for these healing waters?—
Gaby Iori
January 27,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
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And so Heyerdahl recast the island’s earliest settlers as members of a Caucasian race who had migrated from what is now Iraq or Turkey to the Americas and then across the Pacific, and who were tall, fair, blue-eyed, and bearded—not unlike Heyerdahl himself, as Pitts wryly observes.—
Margaret Talbot,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Representing hip-hop, Clipse and Pharrell Williams, and Tyler, The Creator will perform, while Doechii, Q-Tip and female rap pioneer (and 2005 Grammy host) Queen Latifah will present.—
Paul Grein,
Billboard,
30 Jan. 2026
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Jackson was the pioneer, but Ross was the amplifier.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Historically, it was meant to remedy something that was true in England, where the colonists came from, which was that the king or those empowered by the king could invade people’s homes at will.—
John E. Jones,
Fortune,
23 Jan. 2026
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If these nanotubes are already there, future lunar colonists might not need to bring expensive sensors or battery components from Earth.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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This program collects two mid-length documentaries by Raymond Depardon from the mid-1970s, inaugurating a career-spanning interest in former French colonial Africa.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
20 Jan. 2026
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The main five-bedroom colonial has a stone fireplace, water views, a new kitchen, and a pool.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
20 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Colonizer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colonizer. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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