migrant
Americanadjective
noun
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a person or animal that migrates.
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a person who attempts to permanently relocate to a new country, but who may be subject to removal by the government of that country: unaccompanied child migrants.
undocumented migrants;
unaccompanied child migrants.
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Also called migrant worker. a person who moves from place to place to get work, especially a farm laborer who harvests crops seasonally.
noun
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a person or animal that moves from one region, place, or country to another
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an itinerant agricultural worker who travels from one district to another
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an immigrant, esp a recent one
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( as modifier )
a migrant hostel
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adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of migrant
1665–75; < Latin migrant- (stem of migrāns ), present participle of migrāre. See migrate, -ant
Explanation
A migrant worker is someone who travels for a job––in the U.S., many farm workers migrate from Mexico every year to work on the harvest and then return home when their jobs are over. If you have traveled into a new country, you are said to have immigrated there, and you are an immigrant. An emigrant is someone who has left. Migrant doesn't refer to whether you are coming in or out––often it means someone who often travels back and forth, like migrant birds who migrate south every winter, year after year.
Vocabulary lists containing migrant
Mexico - Introductory
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Mexico - Middle School
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The Great Depression and The New Deal
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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.
She doesn’t think her son should have had to choose between living in poverty at home and the many risks of the migrant trail.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2026
“Look, this has been going on for over a dozen years,” Kelly said of the migrant populations affected by the rulings.
From Salon • Jun. 27, 2026
One of Africa's largest economies, South Africa has long attracted migrant workers from across the continent, both legally and illegally.
From Barron's • Jun. 14, 2026
Her story covers the breadth of her life, dwelling especially on her youth in the 1930s among migrant fruit pickers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
Torito picked strawberries for Ito, and Mamá ironed for migrant families and took care of their babies.
From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
