inalienable

adjective in·alien·able \ (ˌ)i-ˈnāl-yə-nə-bəl , -ˈnā-lē-ə-nə- \

Definition of inalienable

:incapable of being alienated, surrendered, or transferred

inalienable rights

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inalienability

play \(ˌ)i-ˌnāl-yə-nə-ˈbi-lə-tē, -ˌnā-lē-ə-nə-\ noun

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inalienably

play \(ˌ)i-ˈnāl-yə-nə-blē, -ˈnā-lē-ə-nə-\ adverb

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inalienable was our Word of the Day on 07/04/2017. Hear the podcast!

Recent Examples of inalienable from the Web

Griffin, who made her career by mocking celebrities, is not the most likely comedian to be martyred over the inalienable right to criticize the president.

— yashar ali, The Cut, "Off With Her Head," 27 Aug. 2017
Case in point: NPR decided to tweet out the Declaration of Independence, and some sad folks didn’t recognize the brilliant blueprint for our inalienable rights.

— christine flowers, Philly.com, "Don't paint all Trump backers as idiots and fools," 6 July 2017
Before any of those festivities got underway, hundreds gathered at Worthy Park (adjacent to Huntington Beach High School) to exercise their inalienable rights.

— andrew turner, Daily Pilot, "Locals prevail in Surf City Run as HB celebrates Fourth of July," 4 July 2017
The majority should never be able to deprive the minority of their inalienable rights.

— thomas fuller, New York Times, "California’s Far North Deplores ‘Tyranny’ of the Urban Majority," 2 July 2017
As advocates have been arguing for decades, anyone else's opinions about other people's inalienable rights don't matter.

— nico lang, Marie Claire, "11 Trans Women Have Been Murdered This Year, but Conservatives Are Claiming *They're* the Victims," 7 June 2017
To ride the train home without being assaulted because of the color of your skin or your religious beliefs, is an inalienable right.

— tony hernandez, OregonLive.com, "Mom of MAX attack victim to Trump: 'Take action' against hate," 30 May 2017
A day of remembrance and appreciation for ALL who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our inalienable rights #

— devan coggan, EW.com, "Katy Perry, John Krasinski, Chris Pratt, and other stars celebrate Memorial Day," 29 May 2017
Life is the first inalienable right, a natural right listed in our Declaration of Independence.

— Orange County Register, "Letters: Proponents of life," 14 Feb. 2017

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

Did You Know?

Alien, "alienable," "inalienable" - it's easy enough to see the Latin word alius, meaning "other," at the root of these three words. "Alien" joined our language in the 14th century, and one of its earliest meanings was "belonging to another." By the early 1600s that sense of "alien" had led to the development of "alienable," an adjective describing something you could give away or transfer ownership of, and "unalienable," its opposite. By about 1645, "inalienable" was also in use as a synonym of "unalienable." "Inalienable" is the more common variant today, but it was "unalienable" that was used in the Declaration of Independence to describe rights like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.