alien

1 of 3

adjective

ˈā-lē-ən How to pronounce alien (audio)
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 How to pronounce alien (audio)
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
2
: to transfer the title of (property)
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 See More
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 See More

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

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of alien was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near alien

Cite this Entry

“Alien.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alien. Accessed 2 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

alien

1 of 2 adjective
ˈā-lē-ən How to pronounce alien (audio)
ˈāl-yən
1
: relating or belonging to another country : foreign
alien residents
2
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
: 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 residenceU.S. Code

alien

3 of 3 transitive verb
Etymology

Adjective

Latin alienus not one's own, foreign

More from Merriam-Webster on alien

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