alien

1 of 3

adjective

ˈā-lē-ən 

ˈāl-yən

1

a

: belonging or relating to another person, place, or thing : strange

an alien environment

b

: relating, belonging, or owing allegiance to another country or government : foreign

alien residents

c

: exotic sense 1

alien plants

d

: coming from another world : extraterrestrial

alien beings

an alien spaceship

When it comes to knowing what alien life forms might be like, we don't have any idea.

—Kate Shuster

2

: differing in nature or character typically to the point of incompatibility

ideas alien to democracy

alienly adverb

alienness

ˈā-lē-ən-nəs 

ˈāl-yən-nəs

noun

alien

2 of 3

noun

1

a

: a person who is not of a particular group or place

aliens seeking asylum in the U.S.

In this way it came to pass that those scattered linen-weavers—emigrants from the town into the country—were to the last regarded as aliens by their rustic neighbours …

—George Eliot

… she whom we had deemed so … pious, at last died an alien from the church …

—Delia Salter Bacon

b

: a foreign-born resident who has not been naturalized and is still a subject or citizen of a foreign country

broadly : a foreign-born citizen

2

: extraterrestrial

a movie about an invasion of Earth by monstrous aliens

3

: exotic sense 1

Russian thistle, kudzu, and other aliens

alien

3 of 3

verb

aliened; aliening; aliens

transitive verb

1

: alienate, estrange

2

: to transfer the title of (property)

Synonyms

Adjective

• foreign
• nonnative

Verb

• alienate
• disaffect
• disgruntle
• estrange
• sour

Choose the Right Synonym for alien

extrinsic, extraneous, foreign, alien mean external to a thing, its essential nature, or its original character.

extrinsic applies to what is distinctly outside the thing in question or is not contained in or derived from its essential nature.

sentimental value that is extrinsic to the house's market value

extraneous applies to what is on or comes from the outside and may or may not be capable of becoming an essential part.

arguments extraneous to the issue

foreign applies to what is so different as to be rejected or repelled or to be incapable of becoming assimilated.

techniques foreign to French cuisine

alien is stronger than foreign in suggesting opposition, repugnance, or irreconcilability.

a practice totally alien to her nature

Examples of alien in a Sentence

Adjective

they were careful to learn of any alien business customs before trying to expand overseas

it's completely alien to her nature to wish evil of anyone

Noun

aliens seeking asylum in the U.S.

He claims that he was captured by space aliens.

Verb

such angry outbursts will rapidly alien any friends you might possibly have left

the couple plans to alien the adjoining house lot to their eldest son

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Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

The tobacco shed saucers were neither alien, nor Russian. —John Kelly, Washington Post, 18 Nov. 2023

Not a single such document lends credence to the idea that a UFO or alien bodies were recovered in the New Mexico desert. —WIRED, 14 Nov. 2023

The music and the culture were utterly alien to her. —Geddy Lee, Rolling Stone, 14 Nov. 2023

For her, of seemingly limitless patience, no human drama was too insignificant, too tawdry, too wretched or alien. —Aatish Taseer, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2023

And yet, defiantly, these alien seas remain liquid. —Quanta Magazine, 2 Nov. 2023

The person would describe being taken into an alien spaceship, then dimly waking up, in a groggy half-consciousness, as they were being tinkered with in some ominous alien lab experiment. —Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 31 Oct. 2023

Like how there’s this big alien culture around the desert in the American Southwest. —Hazlitt, 26 Oct. 2023

And then there were two: the same dress in neon lemon-y chartreuse sparkled under the light like an alien fantasy creature. —Kristen Bateman, Vogue, 3 Nov. 2023

Noun

The aliens who controlled our brains didn’t care about style or image. —Heather Havrilesky, New York Times, 18 Nov. 2023

Early on, the government doesn’t really care whether UFOs are aliens. —Mark Athitakis, Los Angeles Times, 16 Nov. 2023

The actor transformed into an alien with reflective makeup and a blunt pink bob with bangs. —Gabi Thorne, Allure, 1 Nov. 2023

The film features main character Lilo teaching the blue alien Stitch about Elvis and the movie's soundtrack featured a number of songs by the rock and roll legend. —Tommy McArdle, Peoplemag, 25 Oct. 2023

His movies have tackled other Great Men of History (Moses, Columbus), as well as aliens, androids, con men, gangsters, goblins, soldiers, serial killers, and the Gucci family. —Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 6 Nov. 2023

Black women have faced zombies, aliens, murderous psychopaths, and other terrifying horrors on the silver screen. —Essence, 31 Oct. 2023

As a sociologist, some of my work looks at beliefs in things like ghosts, aliens, pyramid power and superstitions. —Barry Markovsky, Discover Magazine, 29 Oct. 2023

Ron Howard will confront a three-mile-tall alien in Imagine TV’s latest foray. —Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Oct. 2023

Verb

The film follows a ragtag group of actors (played by Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, among other stars) from an ‘80s sci-fi series who aliens unexpectedly abduct during a convention appearance. —Matt Juul, BostonGlobe.com, 7 July 2023

In particular, artist Bryan Hitch's work with writer Mark Millar on The Ultimates made the Avengers cool and provided a useful blueprint for the eventual Marvel Cinematic Universe (from inventing the Chitauri aliens to drawing Nick Fury to look like Samuel L. Jackson). —Christian Holub, EW.com, 22 Feb. 2023

While on Earth, Thomas patents alien technology and gets very rich, with the intention of using it to build a vessel to bring water home. —Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Sep. 2022

But even that description fails to capture what Yagi is after: those parts of us, precious and possibly hostile, which flower in darkness, disintegrate when described, and can be compared only to alien life-forms. —Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2022

Neanderthal to alien, and yet strangely well-suited for the modern era. —Nick Remsen, CNN, 30 Sep. 2021

These stars and related systems should be priority one for current and future efforts to seek out exoplanets that may bear not only life but perhaps even alien technological civilizations, some astronomers say. —Tess Joosse, Scientific American, 1 July 2021

Can alien smog lead us to extraterrestrial civilizations? —Whitson Gordon, Wired, 8 Apr. 2021

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Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, "foreign," borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin aliēnus "not one's own, of others, foreign, strange," derivative of alius "other" (perhaps going back to *aliai-nos, from an adverbialized locative derivative *aliai "elsewhere") — more at else

Noun

Middle English, "foreigner, outsider," borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin aliēnus "slave belonging to another person, foreigner, stranger," noun derivative of aliēnus, adjective, "not one's own, foreign" — more at alien entry 1

Verb

Middle English alienen "to transfer or surrender property rights, exclude," borrowed from Anglo-French aliener (Middle French, "to estrange, deprive of reason"), borrowed from Latin alienāre "to transfer (goods, property), lose possession of, render hostile" — more at alienate

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing alien

• illegal alien
• illegal alien/immigrant
• anti-alien
• nonresident alien

• illegal alien
• illegal alien/immigrant
• anti-alien
• nonresident alien

Kids Definition

alien

1 of 2 adjective

ˈā-lē-ən 

ˈāl-yən

1

: relating or belonging to another country : foreign

alien residents

2

: exotic sense 1

3

: wholly different in nature or character

opinions alien to his outlook

alien

2 of 2 noun

1

: a resident who was born elsewhere and is not a citizen of the country in which he or she now lives

2

: a being that comes from or lives in another world : extraterrestrial

3

: exotic

Legal Definition

alien

1 of 3 adjective

ˈā-lē-ən, ˈāl-yən 

: relating, belonging, or owing allegiance to another country or government

alien

2 of 3 noun

: a foreign-born resident who has not been naturalized and is still a subject or citizen of a foreign country

illegal aliens

an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence

—U.S. Code

alien

3 of 3 transitive verb

: alienate

Etymology

Adjective

Latin alienus not one's own, foreign