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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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.
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Sondheim and John Weidman, who wrote the book, are practicing a form of Brechtian alienation.
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Their anger and alienation has proved a fertile ground for false promises and information.
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Their anger and alienation has proved a fertile ground for false promises and false information.
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Television produces simultaneity but at a great distance; intimacy but—at low levels and at all times—feelings of alienation.
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Schlesinger’s films, like his Oscar-winning Midnight Cowboy, dealt largely with alienation and failure in an increasingly impersonal world.
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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