exile

noun

ex·ile | \ ˈeg-ˌzī(-ə)l,

ˈek-ˌsī(-ə)l

Definition of exile

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : the state or a period of forced absence from one's country or home

b : the state or a period of voluntary absence from one's country or home

2 : a person who is in exile

exile

verb

exiled; exiling

Definition of exile (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

: to banish or expel from one's own country or home

Other Words from exile Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym Example Sentences Learn More about exile

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Choose the Right Synonym for exile

Verb

banish, exile, deport, transport mean to remove by authority from a state or country. banish implies compulsory removal from a country not necessarily one's own. banished for seditious activities exile may imply compulsory removal or an enforced or voluntary absence from one's own country. a writer who exiled himself for political reasons deport implies sending out of the country an alien who has illegally entered or whose presence is judged inimical to the public welfare. illegal aliens will be deported transport implies sending a convicted criminal to an overseas penal colony. a convict who was transported to Australia

Examples of exile in a Sentence

Noun

They hoped that his exile would be temporary. Many chose to live as exiles rather than face persecution.

Verb

with their conquest of the Moors complete, Ferdinand and Isabella next exiled the Jews from Spain

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Meanwhile, heir-in-exile Lysander au Lune, has returned, determined to bring peace back to humanity by resting control from the Gold families and facing down Darrow over Mercury. — Andrew Liptak, The Verge, "All the science fiction and fantasy books we’re looking forward to in 2019," 30 Dec. 2018 The daughter of a housewife and a cemetery worker, Sandra had grown up to know great misfortune, but she had never expected to know exile. — Kainaz Amaria, Vox, "2018, explained in pictures by women and non-binary photographers," 21 Dec. 2018 In October, Quynh was released in a freedom-for-exile deal. — Juan A. Lozano, The Seattle Times, "Exile won’t stop Vietnamese blogger from highlighting abuses," 21 Nov. 2018 The old guy’s taken off in a helicopter to some exile country. — Eric Johnson, Recode, "Elites like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos think they’re being philanthropic. But they could do so much more.," 3 Oct. 2018 Like the author, too, he is afflicted with a permanent sense of semi-exile. — New York Times, "Struggling to Love, Work and Do the Right Thing in Putin’s Russia," 9 July 2018 The extent of his basketball involvement during his exile until 1998 amounted to playing in adult leagues at his local JCC. — Ben Cohen, WSJ, "How LeBron James Gave His First Coach a Second Chance," 20 Nov. 2018 When a chaotic regime shift descended on the country, however, my father’s political allegiances eventually led to our exile. — Rawiya Kameir, Vogue, "Does Citizenship Shape Identity? A “Third-Culture” Writer Takes Stock," 19 Oct. 2018 During his European exile, Neruda fell for a Chilean folk singer, Mathilde Urrutia, eight years his junior. — Benjamin Kunkel, The New Republic, "The partisan world of Pablo Neruda," 2 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

When all canines are exiled to a garbage dump island, a 12-year-old boy sets out to find his bodyguard dog in this animated film. — Kevin Crust, latimes.com, "L.A. movie openings, March 23," 18 Mar. 2018 Slated to come out later this year, the film stars Lucas Hedges as a gay teen pressured by his family Baptist parents (Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe) to enter a conversion therapy program — or else be exiled by his family and church. — Mathew Shurka, Teen Vogue, ""The Miseducation of Cameron Post" and "Boy Erased" Are Putting an Important Spotlight on Conversion Therapy," 3 Aug. 2018 Matt Harvey, who three years ago was one of the most dynamic pitchers in the game, is just a shell of himself these days, exiled to Cincinnati, trying to resurrect his career and land any contract next winter, let alone a generational one. — Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY, "MLB's great free agent class of 2018 limping toward finish line," 11 June 2018 But in all those years no alderman's been exiled from his own brood—until now. — Ben Joravsky, Chicago Reader, "Clout City / Politics Why did Carlos Ramirez-Rosa get kicked out of the City Council’s Latino Caucus?," 24 May 2018 Pitcher Matt Harvey was exiled, Jason Vargas was activated but failed to escape the fifth inning in any of his first three starts, and the Mets' best hitter is, um, Asdrubal Cabrera, a 32-year-old infielder. — Bill Shaikin, latimes.com, "Three up, three down: Justin Verlander and Bryce Harper speak, NL West sinks," 19 May 2018 Maduro is widely expected to win, in part because the National Electoral Council, or CNE, in charge of counting the votes is controlled by the president’s allies, and opposition leaders have been jailed, exiled or barred from running. — Eduard Freisler, miamiherald, "Venezuela's presidential election brings fresh grief to families of slain protesters | Miami Herald," 18 May 2018 Yameen is now poised to run virtually unopposed with all of his rivals either jailed or exiled. — Washington Post, "Maldives leader lifts 45-day state of emergency," 22 Mar. 2018 Tonga explained that both men supported his decision to exile the likes of Omega, the Young Bucks, and Rhodes. — Justin Barrasso, SI.com, "The Week in Wrestling: Tama Tonga Says Bullet Club Civil War ‘Has Been a Long Time Coming’," 11 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'exile.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.