exile

1 of 2

noun

ex·ile ˈeg-ˌzī(-ə)l

ˈek-ˌsī(-ə)l

Synonyms of exile next

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

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

: a person who is in exile

exilic

eg-ˈzi-lik

adjective

exile

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verb

exiled; exiling

transitive verb

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

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 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

Example Sentences

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

At Winter’s wedding, Naomi laments the world left to her children and expresses joy at their exile, as Winter and Zeno head for Mexico, and Patrick returns to Germany. —

Laura Tanenbaum, The New Republic, 17 May 2023 And Davies recently published his second memoir, Living on a Thin Line, which makes the case for why the Kinks have persevered through decades despite a reputation as rock exiles. —

Vulture, 12 May 2023 Constantine lived in exile in the Hampstead Garden Suburb of London with his family for many years. —

Catherine Santino, Peoplemag, 5 May 2023 But not Zephyr, who on Thursday began legislative exile after Montana Republicans barred her from the state House floor a week after saying those who voted to support a ban on gender-affirming care would have blood on their hands. —

Paul J. Weber And Amy Beth Hanson, Anchorage Daily News, 27 Apr. 2023 With a formidable last name but little in the way of political experience, Ms. Paetongtarn, 36, has revived the prospect of her father’s return from exile and the resurgence of the most politically polarizing dynasty in Thai politics. —

Muktita Suhartono, New York Times, 24 Apr. 2023 As the titles of many of his works indicate, Lecuona, who was gay and died in exile in 1963, drew his art — similar to the choreographer — from impressive sites as well as the sighs of people in love. —

Guillermo Perez, Sun Sentinel, 17 Apr. 2023 The Sympathizer follows a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy (Hoa Xuande) during the final days of the Vietnam War and his resulting exile in the United States. —

Rick Porter, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Apr. 2023 Richard, who’d been sent away for his safety following his father’s death, returned from exile in time for Edward’s coronation. —

Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Mar. 2023

Verb

Where once board games were exiled to a hall closet with a couple pieces and one of the dice missing, now millions of people have big collections full of all types of games. —

Rob Wieland, Forbes, 18 Apr. 2023 In her last years, exiled to the desert due to failing health and lack of institutional support, Wanda passed after an uncustomary silence. —

Sesshu Foster, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2023 Our first introduction to her is while she’s wasted in the back of an Uber on her way to break into the home her husband has exiled her from. —

Radhika Menon, ELLE, 8 Apr. 2023 Syria’s civil war began in 2011, leaving thousands of Syrians exiled and displaced, and others lacking access to food and shelter. —

Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN, 31 Mar. 2023 On a charter plane, they were exiled to the United States. —

Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 8 Mar. 2023 Google apparently exiled Gebru from its AI ethics team (and subsequently fired the other leader of the team) in response to a paper about the dangers of the large language models that have become so important to the world’s biggest technology companies. —

IEEE Spectrum, 31 Mar. 2022 Taylor Greene’s attack on Newman’s daughter drew outrage from various members of Congress, including Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who was one of 11 Republicans who voted with Democrats to exile Taylor Greene earlier this month by stripping her committee assignments in Congress. —

Bill Ruthhart, chicagotribune.com, 25 Feb. 2021 Redshirted his first year in Athens only to be exiled to a junior college in Mississippi before being buried on the depth chart upon his return. —

Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Apr. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'exile.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.