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

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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 The New York Times How Vietnamese philosopher Trần Đức Thảo conceptualized the divide between colonized and colonizers. Literary Hub, 12 Jan. 2026 Four years later, Spanish colonizers returned to New Mexico and once again set out to bring the vast desert and its determined residents back under their control. Peter C. Mancall, The Conversation, 9 Jan. 2026 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 See All Example Sentences for colonizer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for colonizer
Noun
  • One settler can be seen aiming his rifle at the top floor of the home.
    ABC News, ABC News, 2 Mar. 2026
  • Historical accounts describe Sutter, a Swiss immigrant and early California settler, as enslaving Indigenous people and forcing tribes to work in inhumane and sometimes deadly conditions.
    Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 1 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • In the late 1990s, Stone embarked on a solo career, becoming a pioneer in neo-soul.
    DeAsia Paige, AJC.com, 1 Mar. 2026
  • The film, directed by Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard, explores the life and legacy of Carl Bean, a disco singer who became an archbishop and pioneer in the LGBTQ civil rights movement.
    Richard Johnson, New York Daily News, 1 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • The Hopis and Zunis were part of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, where Spanish colonists and priests were driven out of the pueblos of New Mexico and northeastern Arizona.
    Debra Utacia Krol, AZCentral.com, 27 Feb. 2026
  • Decades before the Declaration of Independence, colonists organized boycotts and public demonstrations opposing British rule.
    Karl W. Bickel, Baltimore Sun, 24 Feb. 2026
Noun
  • The arts center is located less than a mile away from their sprawling, white Dutch clapboard colonial home on Old House Lane and sits in the old Reader’s Digest campus, which has now been redeveloped as a retail-office-residential complex.
    Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 26 Feb. 2026
  • Walmart Supercenters could fit inside, in contrast to the remnants of the austere Spanish colonial and mission architecture that define the town.
    Heather Hollingsworth, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Colonizer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colonizer. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.

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