exile

1 of 2

noun

1
a
: the state or a period of forced absence from one's country or home
b
: the state or a period of voluntary absence from one's country or home
2
: a person who is in exile
exilic adjective

exile

2 of 2

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

Examples of exile in a Sentence

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
The Noon Against Putin protest was designed not only to denounce an election widely condemned as neither free nor fair, but also to demonstrate support for the fragmented, often demoralized critics of Putin and the war, many of whom are now living in exile. Robyn Dixon, Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2024 He was taken to the hospital last week after being beaten with a hammer outside his home in Lithuania, a reminder of the dangers faced by the opposition, even in exile. Nanna Heitmann, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2024 After the crackdown on free speech in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, most independent media organizations have been banned, many Russian journalists are in exile, and foreign correspondents have either been expelled or jailed, including The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich. USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2024 Haitian politician Maryse Narcisse has been one of the main faces of the political party since Aristide returned to Haiti from exile in 2011. Caitlin Stephen Hu, CNN, 12 Mar. 2024 Living in exile after his father’s murder, Mr. Hydara tried to carry on his legacy by working for Reporters Without Borders. David Bruckmeier, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Feb. 2024 The late Qing era was a time of great intellectual ferment, and Chinese thinkers—some in exile in Japan—continued to debate theories such as Kang’s in an array of new journals. Rana Mitter, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024 Still, Ivan Zhdanov, who, like many of Mr. Navalny’s closest associates, is in exile outside Russia, encouraged people to come to the church, saying that the police had not been arresting mourners, as many had feared. Valerie Hopkins, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2024 What’s confounding is that the works express the anxiety and longing of exile not through poetic distillation but through an almost comically unstoppable geyser of cascading symbols, modes, allusions and whims. Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2024
Verb
The funny thing about the concept of cancel culture is that its popularization coincided with the demise of the mechanisms through which a person might truly be exiled from public life. Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 18 Mar. 2024 Of course, in a country where critics are routinely jailed, exiled or killed, public opinion polls are flawed. Matthew Chance, CNN, 12 Mar. 2024 The poet, a courtier named Yukihira, was a provincial governor who, by some accounts, was exiled to Suma Bay, a famous stretch of coastline in western Japan. Paul S. Atkins, The Conversation, 12 Mar. 2024 Remember that the Palestinian militias and fighters who were involved in the rebellion in 1936 to ’39 were substantially disarmed, and the leadership continued to be exiled in 1947 and ’48. Emily Bazelon, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2024 His character in Schitt's Creek — the 2015-2020 show about a formerly rich family exiled to a small, rural town co-created by Levy and his dad, Eugene — was a pandemic juggernaut that swept the Emmys in 2020. Jason Sheeler, Peoplemag, 13 Jan. 2024 With all his real adversaries in prison, exiled or dead, his landslide victory is all but certain. Alexander Smith, NBC News, 29 Feb. 2024 Dwight ‘The General’ Manfredi (Stallone), just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Feb. 2024 During a game of King’s Cup—a drinking game that on this February night had created a rule that exiled me to the porch—without hesitation, Dickie followed me outside. Hazlitt, 28 Feb. 2024

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.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English exil, from Anglo-French essil, exil, from Latin exilium, from exul, exsul an exile

First Known Use

Noun

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

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined above

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

Dictionary Entries Near exile

Cite this Entry

“Exile.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exile. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

exile

1 of 2 noun
1
a
: an act or instance of being forced to leave one's country or home
also : voluntary absence from one's country or home
b
: the state of one so absent
2
: a person who is in exile

exile

2 of 2 verb
exiled; exiling
: to force to leave one's own country or home

More from Merriam-Webster on exile

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