citizen

noun

ˈsi-tə-zən How to pronounce citizen (audio)
Definition of citizennext
1
as in national
a person who owes allegiance to a government and is protected by it conscientious citizens who regard voting as a duty as well as a right

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2
as in villager
a person who lives in a town on a permanent basis claimed that the good citizens of the town were sick of high property taxes

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word citizen distinct from other similar nouns?

The words national and subject are common synonyms of citizen. While all three words mean "a person owing allegiance to and entitled to the protection of a sovereign state," citizen is preferred for one owing allegiance to a state in which sovereign power is retained by the people and sharing in the political rights of those people.

the rights of a free citizen

Where would national be a reasonable alternative to citizen?

Although the words national and citizen have much in common, national designates one who may claim the protection of a state and applies especially to one living or traveling outside that state.

American nationals working in the Middle East

When could subject be used to replace citizen?

The meanings of subject and citizen largely overlap; however, subject implies allegiance to a personal sovereign such as a monarch.

the king's subjects

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of citizen The law, in its multiple iterations, serves as a fulcrum between the privacy expectations of citizens and the national security interests of the federal government. — Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Aug. 2026 Forbes has identified 89 billionaires living in the small European nation, 38 of whom are citizens—or roughly 10 billionaires for every 1 million Swiss citizens. — Danielle Chemtob, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026 In Israel, a small but growing minority of citizens seek to improve their country’s security by upholding both the principles of democracy and Jewish directives governing the treatment of fellow humans. — The Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor, 21 Aug. 2026 Nine were citizens of the Philippines, while the other two were citizens of Indonesia and Nicaragua. — Nathan Diller, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for citizen
Recent Examples of Synonyms for citizen
  1. national
  2. villager
  3. resident
  4. inhabitant
Noun
  • Established in 1987, Panama’s indefinite Pensionado Visa grants permanent residency to foreign nationals who can prove a lifetime monthly income or pension of at least $1,000 a month.
    — Brittany Chang, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in a car near his Biddeford home on July 13.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of national
Noun
  • The villager, whose mother-in-law was killed in the airstrike, said that people fled to a nearby community after cremating bodies of the victims.
    — Grant Peck, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Kristinka Lazar, for example, used the time as an artistic residency to create a collection of paintings called The Gift of Being Seen, featuring 45 portraits of local villagers.
    — Liz Provencher, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of villager
Noun
  • Egan says no specific person appeared to be targeted and no formal complaints were filed, but residents called the police out of concern.
    — DeJanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026
  • On Monday June 29, a bomb exploded on the doorstep of Yermolaiev’s luxury apartment in Monaco, gravely injuring the Ukrainian millionaire and shocking residents of the wealthy city state.
    — Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of resident
Noun
  • Aris and co-screenwriter Bane Fakih circle back and forth in time and depict a resilient city whose inhabitants have weathered a lot.
    — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 19 Aug. 2026
  • The inhabitants of rotten-tail buildings repurpose the old and improvise to find a way of surviving an economic storm.
    — Mark Leonard, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of inhabitant

Phrases Containing citizen

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Cite this Entry

“Citizen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/citizen. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of citizen for Spanish Speakers

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