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

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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 More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 2023, according to Palestinian health authorities, a figure that includes those killed by Israeli settlers, while dozens of Israelis have also been killed. — Rena Rowe, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2026 The ambassador last month spoke out sharply after weeks of unrest in the town of Qusra, where settlers surrounded several homes including one owned by a Palestinian American. — ABC News, 5 Sep. 2026 The settlers are Israeli citizens, and Israel’s defense minister recently announced plans to fully transfer law enforcement among settlers to the Israeli police. — Ibrahim Hazboun, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026 The settlers’ campaign to take control of territory now combines a political arm with an increasingly powerful military arm. — Amos Harel, Foreign Affairs, 2 Sep. 2026 Early settlers of the Valley constructed the Salt River's first dams and laid the groundwork for the area's future. — Alex Hager, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026 The attack occurred a few hundred yards away from three homes to which settlers laid siege this month, drawing international condemnation and an Israeli military deployment that residents say has kept them effectively trapped in their homes. — Pesha Magid Reuters, Arkansas Online, 30 Aug. 2026 Jerusalem — Israeli settlers stormed a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank on Saturday and seized a home while its owner was inside in the latest brazen settler attack in the area. — Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for settlers

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

Definition of colonists

Noun

Traditional Republicans who have supported, or at least gone along with, the party’s attacks on Muslims and immigrants and its rejection of democratic norms have spoken out against cracking the door open for anti-Semites.

— Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2026
The son of Taiwanese immigrants, Hsu was a precocious talent and became a professional skateboarder in his mid-teens.

— Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of immigrants

Noun

The festival also gave a nod to some of the industry’s women pioneers, such as Bikini Kill and Garbage.

— Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026
Translated, Huang’s immense fortune will eventually pale by comparison to those that will follow from entrepreneurs building on his and other AI pioneers’ broad shoulders.

— John Tamny, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of pioneers

Noun

Concern about Russian attempts to divide the EU Spain publicly has accused Russia, along with Israel, of using disinformation to incite migrants to cross from Morocco into its Ceuta exclave in northern Africa.

— Lorne Cook, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2026
Burnham’s office said efforts to stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats will top the agenda.

— ABC News, ABC News, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of migrants

Noun

The decision could have broad implications for descendants of Italian emigrants, particularly in North and South America, where large Italian diaspora communities have ancestral ties to Italy.

— ABC News, ABC News, 29 July 2026
González has witnessed the ties between Mexico and its emigrants abroad evolve over four decades, starting as a young consular officer in the administration of Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

— Alfredo Corchado, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2026

Definition of emigrants

Noun

These refugees often had to adopt new roles in order to survive.

— Leo Barraclough, Variety, 2 Sep. 2026
More than 6 million Afghans fled to neighboring Iran and Pakistan, but both those countries have kicked out nearly all their Afghan refugees in recent years—even Afghans who arrived back in 1979, during the Soviet invasion.

— The Week US, TheWeek, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of refugees

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“Settlers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/settlers. Accessed 6 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of settlers

noun

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