SETTLERS Synonyms: 45 Similar and Opposite Words

settlers

noun

plural of settler

as in colonists

a person who settles in a new region settlers learning to live in peace with the natives

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in immigrants

one that leaves one place to settle in another in 1889 Jane Addams, in an effort to provide Chicago's latest wave of settlers with much-needed services, founded the city's first settlement house

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 settlers In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Khanna said the settlers blocked the road and then called the military. — Dorit Long, ABC News, 11 July 2026 The incident followed a visit to an elementary school that was destroyed by extremist Israeli settlers, Khanna said. — Kaanita Iyer, CNN Money, 11 July 2026 Speaking with Reuters on Thursday in a Palestinian village, Khanna said his ⁠group’s van was surrounded by settlers wielding M4 rifles a day earlier while touring a part of the southern West Bank where residents face frequent settler attacks. — Reuters, NBC news, 11 July 2026 Speaking with Reuters on July 9 in a Palestinian village, Khanna said his group's van was surrounded by settlers wielding M4 rifles a day earlier while touring a part of the southern West Bank where residents face frequent settler attacks. — Rami Ayyub, USA Today, 11 July 2026 The congressman said the Israel Defense Forces later arrived but sided with the settlers. — Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2026 Fairbrother, who grew up with Ojibwe and Cree language systems, had only a few weeks to study Osage before playing a man who serves as the translator — and, by extension, the cultural bridge — between his tribe and the English-speaking settlers. — Max Gao, IndieWire, 10 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for settlers

Noun

Anticipation for the milestone holiday has been building for much of the year, serving as an opportunity for Americans to reflect on their complicated history as onetime colonists of an empire who became a superpower of their own.

— Steven Sloan, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2026
For example, Indigenous people shared their knowledge of making tea from local plants and herbs with colonists.

— Teresa Mull, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2026

Definition of colonists

Noun

Dozens of airport workers, labor organizers and community leaders gathered at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Friday as work permits were coming to an end for thousands of Haitian immigrants in South Florida.

— Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 11 July 2026
Simpson’s moves may be out of lockstep with state Republican lawmakers, who this year introduced scores of bills aiming to crack down on immigration and the people who hire some immigrants.

— Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 10 July 2026

Definition of immigrants

Noun

White settlers and frontier pioneers built vast, fenceless cattle stations, battling harsh environments and disease, embracing a hard-living culture that exists to this day.

— Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 5 July 2026
The group helped define hip-hop’s golden age, became the first rap act inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and remains one of the genre’s most influential pioneers.

— Ernie Suggs, AJC.com, 3 July 2026

Definition of pioneers

Noun

However, our calculations show that population growth in Florida, particularly from out-of-state migrants, has nearly stopped.

— Karin Brewster, The Conversation, 8 July 2026
The remote, inhospitable terrain serves as a natural biological barrier, though hundreds of thousands of migrants traverse the gap every year.

— Bloomberg, Mercury News, 7 July 2026

Definition of migrants

Noun

The book looked at the world of a swath of Irish women emigrants who were deemed troublemakers, highlighting that for a period of time, Irish women outnumbered Irish men in prison.

— Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 30 June 2026
Perhaps as important as Morocco’s investment in nurturing domestic talent has been its improved efforts to scout and court eligible international talent —often the descendants of emigrants who have learned the game in world-class competitive environs elsewhere.

— Dan Greene, New Yorker, 12 June 2026

Definition of emigrants

Noun

Bangladesh has urged the international community for years to help the country begin repatriation of the refugees to Myanmar, but the process is stalled.

— ABC News, ABC News, 8 July 2026
Most immigration experts agree that the EU’s asylum laws were a triumph of European cooperation and respect for the dignity and rights of refugees.

— Mark Sappenfield, Christian Science Monitor, 6 July 2026

Definition of refugees

Browse Nearby Words

settler

settlers

settles

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Settlers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/settlers. Accessed 12 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of settlers

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster on settlers

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

fulcrum

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Popular in Wordplay

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10

Popular

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes