refugee

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A person who has been forced to leave their country because of war, persecution, or disaster.

   Grammar: Countable: a refugee, many refugees. Someone displaced inside their own country is not usually called a refugee.

   Patterns

   • a refugee from a place
   • refugees fleeing something
   • a refugee camp

   The family arrived as refugees after fleeing the war.

   Thousands of refugees crossed the border during the conflict.

   She spent two years in a refugee camp before being resettled.

2. 2nouncountablefigurative

   Someone who seeks safety or help in a new place, often used figuratively.

   Grammar: Usually figurative and slightly literary; the literal sense is far more common.

   Patterns

   • a refugee from something

   He called himself a refugee from the world of big business.

   The old theater became a refugee for artists without money.

Word forms

Common combinations

refugee camp

Aid workers delivered blankets to the refugee camp.

refugee crisis

The refugee crisis dominated the news for months.

political refugee

He was granted asylum as a political refugee.

flee as a refugee

Many families fled as refugees with only what they could carry.

refugee status

The court granted her refugee status last year.

Synonyms and how they differ

asylum seeker

Someone who has asked for protection but whose claim is not yet decided; a refugee has usually been recognized.

migrant

A general word for someone who moves to another place, often for work; it does not imply forced flight.

displaced person

A broad term covering people forced from home, including those who stay inside their own country.

Word family

refuge noun

A safe place or shelter from danger.

refugeeism noun

Rare term for the condition or situation of being a refugee.

Commonly confused: refugee or refuge? refugee or migrant?

Practice

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