settlers

noun

plural of settler
1
as in colonists
a person who settles in a new region settlers learning to live in peace with the natives

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2
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 More than eleven hundred Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed either directly by settlers or by the Israeli security forces. — David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2026 Captured in the 1967 Middle East war, the West Bank is home to 3 million Palestinians and 500,000 Israeli settlers. — F. Brinley Bruton, NBC news, 29 Aug. 2026 Originally the homeland of the Ohlone Indians, the Mission was taken over by Spanish settlers in the 1700s and so named after the Catholic church at its center, now known as Mission Dolores. — Marissa J. Lang, NPR, 28 Aug. 2026 Rabah told The Associated Press that two settlers arrived with a tractor at his home in Khirbet al-Rakeez in the southern West Bank on Saturday afternoon. — ABC News, 23 Aug. 2026 Rabah told the Associated Press that two settlers arrived at his home in Khirbet al-Rakeez on Saturday afternoon. — Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for settlers
  1. colonists
  2. immigrants
  3. pioneers
  4. migrants
  5. emigrants
  6. refugees
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
  • His videos drew dozens of aspiring food truck owners, many of them immigrants like Ochoa, who entrusted him with their life savings in hopes of turning their dreams into a livelihood.
    — Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2026
  • But between two women of color, in this case the reporter and subject–both daughters of immigrants–articulation was unnecessary.
    — Rebecca Suhrawardi, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 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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Cite this Entry

“Settlers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/settlers. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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