alienating 1 of 2

present participle of alienate
1
2

alienating

2 of 2

adjective

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of alienating
Verb
Johnson’s familiarity is key to bringing audiences close to Kerr and helps the film overcome its potentially alienating storyline. David Sims, The Atlantic, 9 Oct. 2025 Their approach is assertive and inviting rather than aggressive and alienating. Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 13 Aug. 2025 The constant stream of news about the chaos of the economy can be both disturbing and alienating, but Rodgers points out that staying connected with others can be crucial during the present political climate. Essence, 7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
As the days go on, Lo continues searching for answers, further alienating herself from everyone else and causing a deeper rift between them all. Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 11 Oct. 2025 Experts and business owners told with regards to the retail sector that raising prices to cope with long-term inflationary trends and recent pressures is a difficult balancing act—that while potentially necessary to protect profitability, risks alienating increasingly budget-conscious consumers. Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025 Navigating progressive politics has long been a commercially treacherous act for country stars, who risk alienating their conservative fanbase. Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2025 There’s something very alienating about it. Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 5 Oct. 2025 That said, brands run the risk of alienating their core audience, according to Thomai Serdari, marketing professor at New York University. Hayley Cuccinello, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2025 With a thoughtful use of color, Wezel constructs a visual world that feels both alienating and intensely sensorial, like a vivid dream uncomfortably close to reality. Caterina De Biasio, Vogue, 24 Sep. 2025 Man Ray is one of the few Dada-Surrealist cusp figures who finessed affiliations with both movements without alienating either one. Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2025 Employers who rely solely on intuition or outdated practices risk alienating an entire generation of talent. Gisela Carere, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for alienating
Verb
  • Following physical and emotional abuse, Lafferty became an anxious child who was constantly afraid of angering adults around her.
    Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 4 Oct. 2025
  • The new program, Train SMART, also risks angering a network of grassroots chapters and gun violence prevention volunteers at Everytown.
    Nick Penzenstadler, USA Today, 25 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The unpalatable alternative for Macron would be dissolving parliament again, ceding to pressure from the far right in particular for another unscheduled cycle of legislative elections.
    Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2025
  • But even after Wayans gives in to tears over ceding the spotlight, the scene cuts to him looking intimidatingly, perhaps triumphantly, into the camera.
    Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 6 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The journey, first to Paris and then through Switzerland and Milan and onwards to Venice, was for the most part pleasant, being blessedly free of many of the wearisome and often infuriating hindrances and misdirections that rail travel usually entails.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Don’t be surprised if this is a hot-hand situation, though, and rather infuriating.
    Jake Ciely, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The cameos could be read as objects, pieces conveying a subversion of Victorian values.
    Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2025
  • After an extensive public hearing Monday night that featured more than 25 people speaking — with mixed views on the move — the Nampa City Council voted 4-2 in favor of conveying ownership of the arena and grounds.
    Shannon Tyler, Idaho Statesman, 7 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • So, how can an organization remain current on customers' ever-changing needs and expectations without annoying or estranging them?
    Chip Bell, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Three years at the symphony Starting on his first day, July 27, 2020, Jones’ responsibilities included assigning parts to musicians, managing instruments, arranging production with stage crews and leading the percussion section’s performance.
    Matti Gellman, Kansas City Star, 13 Oct. 2025
  • In 1964, the National Police Board, together with the Swedish Police Association, launched a trial assigning women to special tasks, once again limiting their work to investigative, reconnaissance, and security patrol duties, without participation in regular uniformed service.
    Isadora Wandermurem, Time, 3 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • As part of these reforms, the Royal Navy impounded dozens of merchant vessels for allegedly evading customs duties, enraging merchants as well as mariners, shipwrights, stevedores, and others in port cities whose livelihoods depended on foreign commerce.
    Time, Time, 9 Oct. 2025
  • The film captures every enraging detail of the trial while using it as a jumping off point for an exploration of the history of the region and the ways in which the Chuchagasta have been bureaucratically erased in order to strip them of their property and rights.
    Vulture Staff, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Another new law, SB312, implements a requirement that dogs imported into the state for the purpose of selling or transferring ownership have a health certification completed by a veterinarian dated no more than ten days prior to arrival in California.
    Caelyn Pender, Mercury News, 13 Oct. 2025
  • Murphy passed for 5,436 yards and 85 TDs at Austin Regents during his freshman and sophomore years before transferring to Liberty Christian to begin the 2024 season.
    Mike Waters, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Alienating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/alienating. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.

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