Definition of colonizernext
as in settler
a person who settles in a new region the first colonizers of Easter Island must have faced untold challenges

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 colonizer Co-founder and tour guide Hannah Michelle Brower says the tour will be a historical journey exploring passenger pigeons and the Lenape people, as well as looking at how the arrival of European colonizers accelerated commercial exploitation and ultimately contributed to the extinction of the bird. Terra Sullivan, CBS News, 29 June 2026 Dark visions and secrets quickly come to light, as Mārama grapples with her heritage in the shadow of colonizers. William Earl, Variety, 26 June 2026 European colonizers in lands that became the United States did link church and state. Peter C. Mancall, The Conversation, 24 June 2026 Later, colonizers cut down the trees to plant pineapple and sugarcane; the land dried out and became vulnerable to fire. Julie Orringer, Travel + Leisure, 9 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for colonizer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colonizer
Noun
  • Originally the homeland of the Ohlone Indians, the Mission was taken over by Spanish settlers in the 1700s and so named after the Catholic church at its center, now known as Mission Dolores.
    Marissa J. Lang, NPR, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Branly Cadet will research, design, and sculpt a bronze statue of du Sable, Chicago's first permanent non-native settler.
    Adam Harrington, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • In reality, decades of land abuse and exploitation left behind a scarred terrain uniquely prepared for the arrival of kudzu as a fast-growing pioneer plant.
    The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The early quantum pioneers didn’t realize — at first — that the arcane math that strikingly captured the conduct of atoms had left the real world behind.
    Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 26 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • In his telling, the Lenape agreed to sell Dutch colonists only as much land on Manhattan as could be covered by a man’s breeches.
    Eric Lach, New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2026
  • What happened to the colonists remains unknown, but archaeological finds—including otherwise anachronistic English artifacts on Hatteras Island—give some support to White’s theory that at least some of the colonists relocated willingly.
    Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • The two of them live on-site in what looks like a family home straight out of a 1990s Disney film, a white colonial home with blue shutters.
    Emma Madden, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Ideally located at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in the Taskers Pond neighborhood, a handsome colonial has just come on the market.
    James Alexander, Hartford Courant, 9 Aug. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Colonizer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colonizer. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster