DictionaryAI

refugee

USREF-yuu-jee/ˈɹɛfjʊd͡ʒiː/ref-yuu-JEE/ɹɛfjʊˈd͡ʒiː/

Pluralrefugees

Verbrefugees, refugeeing, refugeed

3 meanings of refugee

Practice

  1. 1
    nounfigurativelycountablebefore a noun
    A person who leaves their home country to escape danger such as war, persecution, or disaster.

    Like a family leaving a burning house to find a safe place to stay.

    The refugee found a safe place to live after fleeing the war.

    Thousands of refugees crossed the border to escape the fighting.

    Similarasylum-seeker, evacuee, exile

    Note
  2. 2
    nounderogatorycountable
    Someone who runs away to escape justice or punishment they deserve.

    Like a person who keeps running so the police can never catch them.

    The convict escaped and lived as a refugee from justice for years.

    Townsfolk scorned the outlaw as a refugee dodging his rightful punishment.

    Similarfugitive, runaway

    Note
  3. 3
    verbhistoricalUStransitive
    To move enslaved people away so the advancing federal army could not reach them.

    Planters tried to refugee their slaves before the soldiers came.

    The family refugeed their enslaved workers deep into Texas.

    Note

Practice

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Origin

From French réfugié, meaning someone who took refuge, from Latin refugium, "a place to flee to." It first described French Protestants fleeing religious persecution after 1685.