Definition of alienation
1 : a withdrawing or separation of a person or a person's affections from an object or position of former attachment : estrangement alienation … from the values of one's society and family — S. L. Halleck
2 : a conveyance of property to another
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Examples of alienation in a Sentence
after years of alienation from her family, she became reconciled with them when her father fell ill
Recent Examples of alienation from the Web
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After years of alienation by Baghdad’s Shia government, many of Mosul’s Sunnis welcomed ISIS in 2014.
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Socialists argue that profit-making in a competitive market leads inevitably to exploitation and alienation.
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But this 20th-anniversary reissue of the influential album that firmly established Radiohead as artistes of alienation is a well put together package, expanded with three unreleased tracks and 8 B-sides.
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Confessions about her alienation from her own clothing and the existential terror of preparing to take a package to the post office are riveting.
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When Lorde appeared four years ago, the idea that drove the young New Zealander’s music was a prideful alienation from the supposedly hollow pageantry of pop culture.
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His subsequent monologue — which actor Wrekless Watson invests with almost preacher-esque passion and verve — expounds on the themes of poverty and alienation that have been bubbling up in more indirect terms throughout Christina Anderson’s play.
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There’s a song about alienation, one about aging, one about futility, some obscure enough to be hard to decipher and some all for fun.
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All of those things contributed to a sense for many people, particularly white working-class people, of alienation.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'alienation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of alienation
see 1alien
Other Psychology Terms
Medical Dictionary
alienation
playMedical Definition of alienation
: a withdrawing or separation of a person or a person's affections from an object or position of former attachment alienation…from the values of one's society and family—S. L. Halleck
Learn More about alienation
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See words that rhyme with alienation Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for alienation Spanish Central: Translation of alienation Nglish: Translation of alienation for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of alienation for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about alienation
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