émigré

IPA/ˈem.ɪ.ɡreɪ/
IPA/ˈem.ɪ.ɡreɪ/

émigré — noun

  • émigrésingular
  • émigrésplural

1. a person who now lives in another country after being pushed out of their homela

1.nounC1
Definition

a person who now lives in another country after being pushed out of their homeland, often because of politics, and is not likely to return

Example

After the army took power, Mateo lived as an émigré in Mexico City.

pattern: live as an émigré in [place]

The museum opened a show about Russian émigrés who rebuilt their lives in Paris.

collocation: Russian émigrés

Common collocations
  • political émigré
  • Russian émigré
  • émigré community
  • émigré writer
  • live as an émigré
  • young émigré
Synonyms
  • emigrant

    A broader and more neutral word for someone leaving one country to live in another; it does not usually suggest political exile.

  • exile

    Puts stronger focus on being forced out or kept away from home, and can describe both the person and the state of banishment.

  • refugee

    Stresses flight from war or persecution and often carries a legal protection meaning; émigré is more literary and historical.

Grammar Patterns

an émigré

émigré from + [country]

live as an émigré in + [place]

Usage Note

Common in historical, literary, and political writing, especially when the break from home feels lasting or forced. Distinguish it from emigrant, which is a broader and more neutral word for someone who leaves one country to settle in another.

Common Mistakes

She became an émigré when she moved to Toronto for a better job.
She became an emigrant when she moved to Toronto for a better job.
Émigré usually suggests political pressure or exile, not an ordinary move for work.
The paper interviewed an immigrant from Cuba living in Madrid.
The paper interviewed a Cuban émigré living in Madrid.
Immigrant describes arrival from the new country's point of view; émigré stresses the person's break from the home country.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Émigré is more literary and historical than emigrant. Both can describe someone who leaves one country to live in another, but emigrant is neutral and simply views the move from the country left behind. Émigré usually suggests a lasting break from home, often under political pressure, and it is common for writers, artists, or political figures living abroad. Exile puts the strongest focus on being forced out or barred from returning, and it can describe both the person and the condition. Refugee is a legal and humanitarian word for someone fleeing danger or persecution. Immigrant describes the same movement from the receiving country's point of view. A Russian émigré in Paris is an emigrant from Russia and an immigrant to France.

émigré ↗emigrant ↗exile ↗refugee ↗immigrant ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • live as an émigré
  • political émigré
  • Russian émigré

Prepositions

  • émigré from
  • émigré in

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Émigré came into English from French during the period of the French Revolution. In French it meant a person who had gone abroad, especially one who left for political reasons. The word is linked to émigrer, 'to leave one's country', from Latin e- or ex- meaning 'out' and migrare meaning 'move' or 'wander'. Because of that history, English kept a more political and historical tone than the plainer word emigrant.