NATIVIST Synonyms: 23 Similar and Opposite Words

nativist 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of nativist

as in nativistic

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Dissimilar Words

internationalist

nativist

2 of 2

noun

as in nationalist

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Dissimilar Words

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 nativist

Adjective

At large right-wing events, young conservatives have consistently espoused a deeply nativist strain of politics, and expressed their fandom of Fuentes and his politics. — Ali Breland, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2026 Not that extricating supply chains from China is sufficient in today’s nativist political climate. — Charlie Campbell, Time, 18 Aug. 2026 The sociologist Brian Donovan, in a book on the subject, describes how the hysteria over white slavery served at once as a progressive campaign against prostitution and as a vindication of nativist fear. — Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026 Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has taken unfair flak from nativist elements of the MAGA base. — Editorial Board, Washington Post, 4 Aug. 2026 The tension between the need for new workers and resurgent nativist politics will influence who comes, who settles and who is counted among the ancestors of future generations. — Albert Sun, New York Times, 2 July 2026 Driven by the same nativist and xenophobic ideas, the United States adopted the Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924, which ended mass immigration by introducing national-origin quotas designed to favor Northern and Western Europeans and exclude nonwhite immigrants almost entirely. — M. Gessen, Mercury News, 11 June 2026 Was this restrictive definition not akin to the nativist rhetoric coming from the right? — Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 10 June 2026 Today, not only are these conditions under assault by a kleptocratic, nativist US federal government, but the clock seems also to be running out on their own internal contradictions. — Katy Siegel, Artforum, 2 June 2026

Noun

This undiplomatic tirade went over well in the White House, but marked him as a belligerent nativist abroad and something of an isolationist at home. — Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 17 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for nativist

Adjective

Latinos have been not only frequent targets of nativism and xenophobic violence but also supporters — regularly enforcers — of it.

— Eladio Bobadilla, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2026
Published a year after the start of the Iraq War, Foer’s rosy look at globalization was already passé as the US took on a more aggressive, hostile, and xenophobic posture to the rest of the world.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 July 2026

Definition of xenophobic

Noun

The plans to honor Mladić sparked a wave of criticism from the pro-European opposition in the country, but were welcomed by many nationalists.

— Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
Begin became prime minister in 1977, ushering in the rise of right-wing nationalists and sweeping out the socialist movement launched under Ben Gurion.

— CBS News, CBS News, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of nationalist

Adjective

As men, women and children flooded across the border between Morocco and Spain, into the autonomous city of Ceuta at the end of July, European populists and anti-immigrant politicians capitalized on the shocking images of human desperation.

— Vasco Cotovio, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
Castillo — no relation to Luis — nevertheless defended his agents’ use of anti-immigrant words.

— Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2026

Definition of anti-immigrant

Noun

There really are chauvinists out there.

— Mikey O'Connell, HollywoodReporter, 4 June 2026
Sacco knows better than most that political chauvinists of all kinds can point to past moments of injury and humiliation to justify any current cruelty or authoritarian project—an especially powerful appeal when those historical injustices are real.

— Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 18 Dec. 2025

Definition of chauvinist

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

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Synonyms of nativist

adjective

noun

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