NATIVIST Synonyms: 23 Similar and Opposite Words

nativist 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of nativist

as in nativistic

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Dissimilar Words

internationalist

nativist

2 of 2

noun

as in nationalist

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Dissimilar Words

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 nativist

Adjective

The backlash to his brutal ICE raids and nativist rants can be seen in returns all over the country. — Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2026 Arizona’s Taiwanese immigrants have risked a lot in coming to America, staking their futures on a new project in an unknown place at a time of extreme nativist backlash. — Gaby Del Valle, The Verge, 29 Oct. 2026 At large right-wing events, young conservatives have consistently espoused a deeply nativist strain of politics, and expressed their fandom of Fuentes and his politics. — Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2026 Not that extricating supply chains from China is sufficient in today’s nativist political climate. — Charlie Campbell, Time, 18 Aug. 2026 The sociologist Brian Donovan, in a book on the subject, describes how the hysteria over white slavery served at once as a progressive campaign against prostitution and as a vindication of nativist fear. — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026 Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has taken unfair flak from nativist elements of the MAGA base. — Editorial Board, Washington Post, 4 Aug. 2026 The tension between the need for new workers and resurgent nativist politics will influence who comes, who settles and who is counted among the ancestors of future generations. — Albert Sun, New York Times, 2 July 2026 Driven by the same nativist and xenophobic ideas, the United States adopted the Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924, which ended mass immigration by introducing national-origin quotas designed to favor Northern and Western Europeans and exclude nonwhite immigrants almost entirely. — M. Gessen, Mercury News, 11 June 2026

Noun

This undiplomatic tirade went over well in the White House, but marked him as a belligerent nativist abroad and something of an isolationist at home. — Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 17 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for nativist

Adjective

Nigeria, Mozambique, Malawi and other countries have said some of their citizens have been killed in xenophobic attacks linked to the anti-immigration protests.

— ABC News, ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026
After a rather lengthy political battle, Bethan Vaughan triumphs over an antisemitic and xenophobic candidate to become only the second PM during the run of The Diplomat.

— Peter White, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of xenophobic

Noun

But a remarkable number of young people are expected to cast ballots for far-right parties whose messaging is overtly Jewish nationalist.

— Yarden Segev, NBC news, 27 Oct. 2026
Democracy in America is facing growing threats from white supremacists and Christian nationalists, and those who are concerned must work harder to counter them, panelists told attendees at a Monday night forum in Kansas City.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of nationalist

Adjective

Its whole thesis points to the fallacy of being anti-immigrant or anti-Mexican in 21st century America.

— Daniel Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026
And by the next election cycle, the three politicians who most relished surfing that anti-immigrant wave had crashed on the rocks and landed out of office.

— Michael Kiefer, Washington Post, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of anti-immigrant

Noun

There really are chauvinists out there.

— Mikey O'Connell, HollywoodReporter, 4 June 2026
Sacco knows better than most that political chauvinists of all kinds can point to past moments of injury and humiliation to justify any current cruelty or authoritarian project—an especially powerful appeal when those historical injustices are real.

— Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 18 Dec. 2025

Definition of chauvinist

Adjective

The piece is an exuberantly hopeful and unabashedly patriotic look at America and its possibilities that seems downright defiant in such a deeply cynical and divided time in the nation’s history.

— Tim Greiving, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2026
But in one such district, Florida’s District 9, Republican Dan Green is not well-known despite a barrage of TV ads that are long on patriotic imagery but short on specifics.

— Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Nov. 2026

Definition of patriotic

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“Nativist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nativist. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of nativist

adjective

noun

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