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Glite Dictionary
returnee

returnee

6 4.4
A person who comes back to their home country after living abroad
  • noun
  • /rɪˈtɜrni/
translation icon : repatriado
  • The declaration of a customs-free zone in Port Said also attracted many returnees and new migrants.

Examples

  • The experiences of these returnees have been difficult.

    Academic text (2006)

  • The lone Republican among the 11 returnees, she served from 2003-06.

    Blog text (6)

  • I'd been there six weeks when I saw my first returnee.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The returnees often have neither jobs nor homes to return to.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Of course, we do not see any of the promised four returnees yet.

    Blog text (11)

  • Tensions between 'insiders' and 'returnees' therefore increased.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Longing to Go Back: Congolese returnee impressed by changes at home

    Blog text (8)

  • The large number of returnees in public positions led to feelings of marginalization among insiders.

    Academic text (2002)

  • The difficulty returnees face is only one aspect of the structural problems of China's bureaucracy.

    Academic text (2006)

  • After living abroad for several years, the returnee was excited to reunite with family and friends.

Synonyms

returner
vsreturnee
1 2.8

A person who comes back to a job or home after being away

is focused on going back specifically to a home country rather than any place
repatriate
vsreturnee
7.7

A person who has come back to their own country

is about a person going back to their country without wider place uses

Antonyms

absentee
59 4.1

A person who is not present where they should be

emigrant
6 3.8

A person who leaves their country to live in another country

How Recovered

champion
600 2.4
rebounder
1 5.0
contender
152 3.5
returnee
6 4.4

Surface Forms

returnee singular
returnees plural

Morphology

returnee = return (transparent) = return + ee

Formed by the verb 'return' plus the productive suffix '-ee' meaning 'person who...'; learners who know 'return' can infer the meaning.

Etymology

Returnee is made from return ('to go back') and the ending -ee, as in employee and trainee, which means 'a person who has had something done to them', so a returnee is someone who has gone back to a place, especially their home country.