estrange

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb estrange contrast with its synonyms?

The words alienate and disaffect are common synonyms of estrange. While all three words mean "to cause one to break a bond of affection or loyalty," estrange implies the development of indifference or hostility with consequent separation or divorcement.

his estranged wife

When could alienate be used to replace estrange?

The words alienate and estrange are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, alienate may or may not suggest separation but always implies loss of affection or interest.

managed to alienate all his coworkers

When would disaffect be a good substitute for estrange?

The words disaffect and estrange can be used in similar contexts, but disaffect refers especially to those from whom loyalty is expected and stresses the effects (such as rebellion or discontent) of alienation without actual separation.

troops disaffected by hunger

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 estrange In the play, Farrow played Sharon, a lonely Iowa woman – estranged from her adult son, divorced from her husband – who decides to take a boarder into her large farmhouse. Denise Petski, Deadline, 30 Sep. 2025 Also in the cast is Riley Keough as Jay’s other daughter, this one estranged, who is shown in flashbacks and over phone calls as a woman who felt aggrieved and abandoned amid her father’s success. Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 29 Sep. 2025 High Potential ended its first season by confirming that Morgan’s estranged ex is alive and well, thus bumping the search for Ava’s father to the top of Morgan’s priority list moving forward. Andy Swift, TVLine, 16 Sep. 2025 Brooke was estranged from Hulk and her mother, Linda Hogan, long before his death. Janelle Ash, FOXNews.com, 13 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for estrange
Recent Examples of Synonyms for estrange
Verb
  • The journey, first to Paris and then through Switzerland and Milan and onwards to Venice, was for the most part pleasant, being blessedly free of many of the wearisome and often infuriating hindrances and misdirections that rail travel usually entails.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Don’t be surprised if this is a hot-hand situation, though, and rather infuriating.
    Jake Ciely, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Experts and business owners told with regards to the retail sector that raising prices to cope with long-term inflationary trends and recent pressures is a difficult balancing act—that while potentially necessary to protect profitability, risks alienating increasingly budget-conscious consumers.
    Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
  • Navigating progressive politics has long been a commercially treacherous act for country stars, who risk alienating their conservative fanbase.
    Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Indeed, after the pandemic—which initially decimated sales but then led to a surge in business that overwhelmed REI’s supply chain and operations—Artz made moves that angered many employees.
    Phil Wahba, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2025
  • The real estate developer who angered Benbrook residents this past summer with his plan to build in a floodplain has been indicted on felony charges in Parker County for alleged misappropriation of funds and theft.
    Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • In ever more apocalyptic language, Trump has sought to unify his MAGA movement with strongman pledges to defend Americans from millions of hostile foreigners seeking to storm the country and to root out enemy aliens within.
    Julia Preston, Foreign Affairs, 25 Oct. 2024
  • The film follows a ragtag group of actors (played by Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, among other stars) from an ‘80s sci-fi series who aliens unexpectedly abduct during a convention appearance.
    Matt Juul, BostonGlobe.com, 7 July 2023
Verb
  • Laurene Allen, an environmental advocate who lives in Merrimack, New Hampshire, where PFNA was one of several forever chemicals discovered in drinking water in 2016, was awaiting the report and is frustrated and enraged by its delay.
    Sharon Lerner, ProPublica, 10 Oct. 2025
  • As part of these reforms, the Royal Navy impounded dozens of merchant vessels for allegedly evading customs duties, enraging merchants as well as mariners, shipwrights, stevedores, and others in port cities whose livelihoods depended on foreign commerce.
    Time, Time, 9 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • For several days this week, cities across the Indian Ocean nation – one of Africa’s poorest – have been flooded with young protesters outraged over water shortages and rolling blackouts.
    Kara Fox, CNN Money, 4 Oct. 2025
  • The move outraged leading Democrats.
    Franco Ordoñez, NPR, 2 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Consumer sentiment soured in October as a government shutdown threatens to weaken a wobbly economy beset by an uptick in inflation and a sharp slowdown of hiring, fresh data on Friday showed.
    ABC News, ABC News, 10 Oct. 2025
  • After a brief recovery, America’s economic mood began to sour again in recent months on growing frustrations about higher prices and a weakening labor market, according to various surveys.
    Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 10 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Vasquez died from gunshot wounds to the face and to the left of Vasquez’s belly button, which affected several internal organs and severed his spinal cord, according to previous testimony.
    PJ Green, Kansas City Star, 3 Oct. 2025
  • The attacker allegedly severed the boy’s head from his body and continued to attack his torso as the victim’s mother watched.
    Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 29 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Estrange.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/estrange. Accessed 12 Oct. 2025.

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