estrangement
Americannoun
-
the state of being alienated or separated in feeling or affection; a state of hostility or unfriendliness.
Since the summer there’s been a rift in the family over something that my daughter posted online, and I still can't figure out how this estrangement occurred over something so silly.
Diplomatic relations between the two nations were officially restored after more than five decades of estrangement.
-
the state of being separated or removed.
After years of forced estrangement, the families of people living in the vast refugee camp are finally beginning to get some news of their relatives there.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of estrangement
Explanation
Estrangement is the feeling that you don't belong, especially when you're surrounded by other people. If you've ever had to sit by yourself in a school cafeteria, you know what estrangement feels like. Right in the middle of the word estrangement is strange, and it provides a great clue about how to use the word. Estrangement happens when something — or someone — makes you feel like a stranger. It can describe a couple that's split up or the alienation of a former friend. The meaning hasn't changed much from its Latin root, extraneare, "treat as a stranger."
Vocabulary lists containing estrangement
"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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Hamilton
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Brave New World
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This is the Kafka that has been passed to posterity—the outsider, the pariah, the man condemned to a condition of eternal estrangement.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
The movie, about memories of paternal love estrangement and loss, made history and received international accolades as the first Nigerian film to be an official selection at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 2025.
From BBC • May 10, 2026
She still carries guilt around the estrangement, especially as her father is no longer living, but she also understands that she needed that time away in order to process her childhood as a whole.
From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026
Questions are also already being asked about how Duff’s separation from her partner might impact her estrangement from her sister, Hilary.
From MarketWatch • May 1, 2026
But let's pause for a moment on my dad's red and puffy face, and cut to the events leading up to our provisional estrangement.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
