COLONIZING Synonyms: 8 Similar and Opposite Words

colonizing

verb

present participle of colonize

as in inhabiting

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 colonizing The two-stage spacecraft is vital not just to Musk's own personal dreams of colonizing Mars, but NASA's Artemis lunar ambitions. — Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 17 Aug. 2026 SpaceX, for instance, purportedly aims to save humanity from future environmental catastrophes, like the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, by colonizing the Moon and Mars. — Marissa E. Yingling, The Conversation, 12 Aug. 2026 All eyes are now on Musk’s other trillion-dollar venture, SpaceX, with its grandiose goals of launching data centers into orbit and colonizing Mars. — Tim Levin, The Atlantic, 24 July 2026 Only about a third of clinical cases come from blood; the rest are found in urine, wounds and the respiratory tract, where the fungus is often colonizing rather than invading. — John Drake, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026 There’s plenty of room for skepticism about the prospect of humans colonizing Mars. — John Cassidy, New Yorker, 8 June 2026 Since the founding of SpaceX in 2002, Musk has been talking about colonizing Mars—and, more recently, the moon. — Time Contributors, Time, 27 Apr. 2026 With proper care and maintenance, most mosses will double in size in about a year, filling in bare soil and colonizing your garden space all on their own. — Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 Apr. 2026 Imagine crossing thousands of miles of open ocean — no rest stops, no landmarks — and somehow colonizing a remote archipelago to start entirely new lineages. — Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 6 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for colonizing

Verb

The VisionQuest trailer suggests that his brother Tommy’s soul is inhabiting the body of Thomas Shepherd, played by Ruaridh Mollica.

— Devan Coggan, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Aug. 2026
Adding to the potential confusion, there are true plants that live in coastal marine environments, often inhabiting the same ecosystems as seaweeds.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of inhabiting

Verb

The Democratic Party needs someone like you to bring the spirit of Rocky Marciano into the political ring instead of the creampuffs populating Democratic leadership today.

— Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 26 July 2026
This reflects China’s decades of investment in math education, which has led to a fresh crop of talented young mathematicians populating the top universities.

— Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 23 July 2026

Definition of populating

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colonizes

colonizing

colonnade

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“Colonizing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/colonizing. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of colonizing

verb

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