refugees

NOUN

person running from something, often oppression

Synonyms

STRONGEST

alien displaced person emigrant evacuee exile expatriate foreigner

STRONG

DP castaway defector derelict deserter escapee foundling fugitive leper maroon outcast outlaw prodigal renegade runaway

WEAK

boat person expellee homeless person stateless person émigré

Antonyms

STRONGEST

citizen national native

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

refugees

In 2025 alone, Iran and Pakistan combined have returned more than a million Afghan immigrants and refugees to their country of origin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

Nepal hosts thousands of Tibetan refugees, and swathes of the country's high Himalayan north, bordering Tibet, share its culture, Buddhist religion and language.

From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026

Lengthy negotiations secured the bird's release, but not before refugees carried Feliks in a potato sack over the Nahr al-Kabir river on the northern border between Syria and Lebanon, the Associated Press reported.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

I’m the child of Vietnamese refugees, and when they claimed asylum in Los Angeles, we were plonked into the cultural collision that was Spanish-speaking Pacoima.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Unfortunately, the Reyes family are refugees as well.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly