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 As explored in my recent book, this dialect formed from linguistic variation that came in with colonial-era settlers from different places and stations. — Valerie M. Fridland, The Conversation, 20 Oct. 2026 Israeli police have arrested 10 suspects in the occupied West Bank following attacks by Jewish settlers over the weekend in which a US journalist and European diplomats were among those injured. — Chas Newkey-Burden, TheWeek, 20 Oct. 2026 On Saturday, French, Belgian and Polish diplomats as well as a French mayor were attacked by masked settlers in another part of the West Bank. — Reuters, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2026 A day later, masked settlers attacked a group of European diplomats and others visiting the Christian village of Taybeh. — Koral Saeed, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2026 His outgoing government is dominated by West Bank settlers and their supporters. — Arkansas Online, 19 Oct. 2026 Since this government came in, in 2022, and certainly since October 7, 2023, the settlers have been emboldened. — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for settlers

Noun

The original model for the kind of adversarial speech the First Amendment aims to protect, McGrane said, was the speech American colonists used against the British.

— Sarah Cutler, Idaho Statesman, 15 Oct. 2026
The animals reached Spain during the Roman Empire and were later brought to what is now Mexico by Spanish colonists in the 1500s.

— Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of colonists

Noun

Most of the immigrants charged in California have lived in the country for at least five years, and some of them for decades.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026
Eisenkot, 66, a son of Moroccan immigrants who became Israel’s top general, grew up in Tiberias and Eilat, outside the country’s centers of political power.

— Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of immigrants

Noun

But beyond icon status, Moncler praises its three leading ladies as pioneers.

— Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2026
Reps from pioneers such as ReelShort were in town pressing the flesh, while a global microdrama leaders’ summit brought together the likes of COL Group, Roseberry, RJ RisingJoy and NetShort.

— Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of pioneers

Noun

Both Hungary and Poland have laid down markers on allowing migrants into their nations.

— Tyler Speicher, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Doing so is not only a matter of altruism; the United States itself will have to grapple with migrants fleeing failing states, pandemics, and the dangers of climate change.

— Charles Kupchan, Foreign Affairs, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of migrants

Noun

Baksheng leaves behind a family and then creates a new one with other Teochew emigrants at an inn run by a feminist daughter, Zia Lamgi (Li Sitong) who dodges a revolving door of suitors.

— Randy Myers, Mercury News, 3 Sep. 2026
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

Definition of emigrants

Noun

The case centers on the Cuban government shooting down two Brothers to the Rescue flights, a civilian rescue group dedicated to saving refugees fleeing the authoritarian Castro regime — then run by Raul Castro’s older brother Fidel.

— Liv Caputo Herald, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026
Trump has vastly expanded ICE to ramp up deportations of immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, and the agency was a major part of last year’s law-enforcement surge in the Chicago area known as Operation Midway Blitz.

— Daniel C. Vock, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 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 26 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of settlers

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

disparate

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

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

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes