alienation

noun

alien·​ation ˌā-lē-ə-ˈnā-shən 

ˌāl-yə-

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

Synonyms of alienation

• estrangement

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 on the Web

That all comes out of alienation. —David Zane Mairowitz, Rolling Stone, 22 Dec. 2025

Here, Thoreau perceives the connection between the division of labor and its alienation from intellectual thought and natural processes that would become increasingly common features of working life in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. —Literary Hub, 17 Dec. 2025

Part of the dig lies under a city park, and for that to be disrupted, the land had to be clawed back from the city in a jurisdictional process known as parkland alienation, which has to go through the State Legislature. —Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 15 Dec. 2025

If the United States delays this transformation, the result may be damage to its international position, Israel’s near-total alienation from the American people and the rest of the world, and the collapse of Palestinian society in Gaza and eventually the West Bank. —Andrew P. Miller, Foreign Affairs, 5 Dec. 2025

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 disorder, 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

Phrases Containing alienation

• self-alienation

Rhymes for alienation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation

Kids Definition

alienation

noun

alien·​ation ˌā-lē-ə-ˈnā-shən 

ˌāl-yə-ˈnā-

1

: a withdrawing or separation of a person or a person's affection from an object of past attachment

2

: a transfer of property to another

Medical Definition

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

alienation … from the values of one's society and family

—S. L. Halleck