COLONIZED Synonyms: 8 Similar and Opposite Words

colonized

verb

past tense of colonize

as in populated

to supply with inhabitants believes that someday humans will be sent to colonize Mars

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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 colonized As the Laurentide retreated across the plateau, tundra plants colonized the newly bare ground. — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 24 Oct. 2026 These included quotes by Fanon, a philosopher who wrote extensively about the ways in which colonized people adopt the mindsets of their oppressors. — Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026 In recent decades, the government of the Netherlands — which colonized Indonesia from the 1600s-1900s — has been in the process of repatriating sculptures, reliefs, and other items to the arts and culture administration in Java. — Lilit Marcus, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026 The vanishing New York chronicled in the blogs of the mid-aughts has mostly vanished, NYU has colonized large swaths of downtown, and a populace struggling to afford the crushing price of housing has arisen in its wake. — David Freedlander, Curbed, 11 Sep. 2026 The Venetians came and colonized 500 years ago, and many vestiges of our Venetian past are still visible, not just in the architecture and in our food. — Shannon McMahon, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Sep. 2026 In Africa, English is an official language in many countries that were colonized by Great Britain and even in some that were not. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Sep. 2026 Like many places in former colonial territories, Hempstead’s name refers back to the homeland of those who colonized and settled in the region. — Ashley Gardini, JSTOR Daily, 9 Sep. 2026 Rumors of Japan’s conversion to Islam Unlike much of Asia, Japan was never colonized. — Mimi Hanaoka, The Conversation, 11 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for colonized

Verb

Parks and gardens are woven into every neighborhood; check out the shocking-pink Portland Street micro park spliced between tenements in Yau Ma Tei; Victoria Park in Causeway Bay; and Kowloon Park, which has a lake populated by real-life flamingos.

— Lee Cobaj, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Oct. 2026
The area is sparsely populated with private estates set atop hills or within canyons, making firefighting access difficult.

— Tom Tapp, Deadline, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of populated

Verb

For those unfamiliar with Fielder’s career or filmmaking approach, his assent to award season hopeful — even frontrunner — has felt like welcoming a strange alien to a planet inhabited by the slick Hollywood establishment.

— Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
First built in 1668 for the sea captain John Turner, The House of the Seven Gables was later inhabited by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of inhabited

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colonize

colonized

colonizer

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“Colonized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colonized. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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