expat
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does expat mean? Expat is short for expatriate—a person who has moved from their native country to another country permanently or for an extended period of time.The word expatriate can refer to a person who has been forced to live in another country (such as due to having been exiled or banished), but it most commonly refers to someone who has chosen to relocate to work in the new country or to retire there. Expats may or may not become citizens of the countries they move to, and they may or may not retain their original citizenship.If the word expat sounds like it has just about the same meaning as the word immigrant, that’s because it does. But expat is used much more narrowly. It can imply (or is at least associated with) a certain amount of wealth and privilege—things not implied by or associated with the word immigrant. The word expat is especially applied to Westerners and used by them to refer to themselves.The word expat is commonly preceded by the person’s original nationality, as in an American expat in Paris. The word expatriate can also be used as a verb and an adjective, but expat is typically used as a noun (though it functions as an adjective in common phrases like expat community).Example: The city has such a large community of British expats that there are multiple pubs that serve as popular social spots for them.
Etymology
Origin of expat
First recorded in 1960–65; by shortening
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.
For decades, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf sold themselves as an oasis of peace in a region prone to conflict, attracting wealthy expats, multinational corporations, investment and tourism.
"As a Lebanese, I am traumatised," a 31-year-old expat and mother of two living in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, told AFP.
From Barron's
For decades, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf sold themselves as an oasis of peace in a region prone to conflict, attracting wealthy expats, multinational corporations and investment.
"I was trying to get into every expat network in Buenos Aires - the private French schools, the French Embassy staff, the French chamber of commerce," Flament remembers.
From BBC
Puerto Vallarta, however, had remained almost immune to the state's daily violence, becoming a popular spot for American and Canadian tourists, and expats, escaping brutal winters back home.
From Barron's
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.
