exile

verb

exiled; exiling

transitive verb

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

Synonyms of exile

• banish
• relegate
• deport
• transport

Choose the Right Synonym for exile

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 a noncitizen who has illegally entered or whose presence is judged adverse to the public welfare.

migrants may 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

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Nicaragua’s government has also imprisoned adversaries, religious leaders, journalists and more, then exiled them, stripping hundreds of their citizenship and possessions. —Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026

Unmoored from the family unit, and inflated by success and ambition, she is left to roam the rainy hills like a beast that has exiled itself from conventional society. —Literary Hub, 9 June 2026

If Sorsby was caught betting on his own team back in these days, the NCAA probably would have exiled him to Mongolia, but times have changed. —Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 9 June 2026

Nicaragua’s government has also imprisoned adversaries, religious leaders, journalists and more, then exiled them, stripping hundreds of their citizenship and possessions. —ABC News, 8 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing exile

• tax exile

Rhymes for exile

• argyle
• awhile
• beguile
• compile
• condyle
• defile
• erstwhile
• freestyle
• gentile
• hairstyle
• lifestyle
• meanwhile

Kids Definition

exile

1 of 2 noun

ex·​ile ˈeg-ˌzīl  ˈek-ˌsīl 

1

a

: an act or instance of being forced to leave one's country or home

also : voluntary absence from one's country or home

b

: the state of one so absent

2

: a person who is in exile

exile

2 of 2 verb

exiled; exiling

: to force to leave one's own country or home