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

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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 Israeli settlers opened fire on olive harvesters in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, killing a Palestinian officer who responded to the attack and wounding 16, Palestinian officials said. — Arkansas Online, 8 Oct. 2026 Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar blamed the souring relations on Britain’s Labour government, which has condemned Israeli military actions in Gaza, placed sanctions on settlers and recognized a Palestinian state. — Steve Hendrix, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026 Since then, the Israeli government has built scores of settlements that are home to well over 500,000 Jewish settlers. — Cara Anna, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026 At least one Palestinian was killed and 14 injured when Jewish settlers attacked olive farmers near the town of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported today. — Charlene Gubash, NBC news, 7 Oct. 2026 These early American settlers named their new home Liberia, for liberty. — Karen Masterson, The Conversation, 5 Oct. 2026 Two months after Israeli settlers forced them out of their house, a Palestinian family was finally able to return to their home overnight – only to be attacked by settlers once again. — Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 29 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for settlers
  1. colonists
  2. immigrants
  3. pioneers
  4. migrants
  5. emigrants
  6. refugees
Noun
  • 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
  • The contest for our land came to be between the British crown and the colonists.
    — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of colonists
Noun
  • The hospital is 2½ hours from the nearest big city, Bismarck, North Dakota, where immigrants fly in and are picked up by hospital staff for the drive down to Hettinger.
    — Evelio Contreras, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2026
  • So would Hilton at least be an advocate for undocumented immigrants?
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of immigrants
Noun
  • New Atlas noted at the time that Samsung was following the path already established by pioneers such as Oura, but its arrival was a clear sign that smart rings were no longer just an experimental niche.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Industry pioneers such as SpaceX’s Starlink have developed optical inter-satellite links for defense and commercial constellations, deploying large numbers of laser terminals across Starlink and Starshield.
    — Rohit Jha, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of pioneers
Noun
  • Coast Guard personnel were intercepting migrants crossing the Rio Grande while working with other federal agencies when the initial gunshots came from the Mexican side of the border.
    — Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026
  • All the passengers were migrants who paid smugglers to take them from the Bahamas to South Florida, Homeland Security Investigations agents said.
    — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 5 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 country has also taken in more than a million Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war.
    — Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Laotian refugees in the country – verified and registered by the United Nations – have gone missing or been found dead.
    — Shibani Mahtani, NPR, 2 Oct. 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 9 Oct. 2026.

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