alienation

noun

alien·ation ˌā-lē-ə-ˈnā-shən

ˌāl-yə-

: 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

: a conveyance of property to another

Example Sentences

after years of alienation from her family, she became reconciled with them when her father fell ill

Recent Examples on the Web One member’s representation is another’s alienation. —

Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2023 My attempts to disguise the meek wounds on my wrist—paper towel, anyone?—often drew further attention to them, resulting in a steady alienation from my teachers and classmates. —

Lucy Morgan, Glamour, 8 Mar. 2023 Claiming individual data as property or individual labor metabolizes our activities as economic products in a competitive marketplace, which reproduces the alienation that disables cooperative resistance. —

Charlotte Kent, WIRED, 8 Sep. 2022 The groups say caste discrimination is prevalent in diaspora communities manifesting itself in the form of social alienation and discrimination in housing, education and the tech sector where South Asians hold key roles. —

Deepa Bharath, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Feb. 2023 Dalit groups and their supporters say caste discrimination is prevalent in U.S. diaspora communities, manifesting itself in the form of social alienation and discrimination in housing, education and the tech sector where South Asians hold key roles. —

Deepa Bharath, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2023 Civilization, Freud believed, was nothing more than a repetition compulsion, humanity's attempt to replicate and reinscribe its fundamental disunity with nature through the very tools that created that alienation in the first place. —

Meghan O'gieblyn, WIRED, 17 Jan. 2023 The whole experiment is enshrined in catchy, melody-forward pop, even while the lyrics point to alienation and anxiety. —

Spin Staff, SPIN, 26 Dec. 2022 Some parts of the surveys suggest the ramped-up disfavor is due to a growing liberal alienation from the court after the Trump years. —

Matt Ford, The New Republic, 28 Sep. 2021 See More

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.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English alienacioun "transference of property rights, derangement, estrangement," borrowed from Anglo-French alienaciun, alienation, borrowed from Latin aliēnātiōn-, aliēnātiō "transference of ownership, estrangement, hostility" (mentis aliēnātiō "mental derangement, insanity"), from aliēnāre "to transfer (goods, property) to another, render hostile, estrange" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action — more at alienate

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of alienation was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century