alienate

CEFRC1

/ˈeɪ.li.ə.neɪt/

verb · adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To make someone feel distant, unwanted, or no longer connected.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    A stranger; an alien.

Examples

  • With that attitude, you will alienate all of your potential allies.

  • Yanni was attempting to alienate Skura from her friends.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
4
Synonyms
4

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To convey or transfer to another, as title, property, or right; to part voluntarily with ownership of.

  2. To estrange; to withdraw affections or attention from; to make indifferent or averse, where love or friendship before subsisted.

adjective

Extra meaning

  1. Estranged; withdrawn in affection; foreign

More examples

In context

  • The errors which […] alienated a loyal gentry and priesthood from the House of Stuart.

  • O alienate from God.

  • The recollection of his former life is a dream that only the more alienates him from the realities of the present.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The manager's constant criticism began to blank the team members from each other.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English alienat(e) (“deranged; uncertain; sequestred, secluded”), from Latin aliēnātus, perfect passive participle of aliēnō (“to estrange, alienate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from aliēnus. By surface analysis, alien + -ate. See alien, and compare aliene.