émigré

noun

émi·​gré ˈe-mi-ˌgrā How to pronounce émigré (audio)
ˌe-mi-ˈgrā
variants or less commonly emigré
often attributive
Synonyms of émigrénext
: emigrant
especially : a person who emigrates for political reasons

Synonyms

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of émigré in a Sentence

He was one of a group of Soviet émigrés living in New York. the revolution resulted in a flood of émigrés into neighboring countries
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Some emigres have managed to keep their jobs in Israel, working remotely as digital nomads. — Aluf Benn, Foreign Affairs, 4 Oct. 2024 By May, however, the Russian security services had begun to visit families of emigres to pressure them to convince their relatives to return to Russia. — Irina Borogan, Foreign Affairs, 28 Sep. 2022

Word History

Etymology

French émigré, from past participle of émigrer to emigrate, from Latin emigrare

First Known Use

1792, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of émigré was in 1792

Browse Nearby Words

emigratory
émigré
Emilia
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“émigré.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/%C3%A9migr%C3%A9. Accessed 30 Mar. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

Kids Definition

émigré

noun
émi·​gré
variants also emigré
ˈem-i-ˌgrā How to pronounce émigré (audio)
ˌem-i-ˈgrā
: emigrant sense 1
especially : a person forced to emigrate for political reasons
Etymology

French

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Words You Always Have to Look Up

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Top 10 Sophisticated Insults

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
burrowing owl athene cunicularia tilts its head outside its burrow on marco island florida
Guess the Curious Origins of These Everyday Words Oh, that’s where that comes from…
See All