Showing results for "alienated"

• past participle of alienate.
• past tense form of alienate.

alienated

American  

[ay-lee-uh-nay-tid, ayl-yuh-] / ˈeɪ li əˌneɪ tɪd, ˈeɪl jə- /

adjective

1. indifferent or hostile.

   A year after the floods, the failure of the promised rehabilitation package has fed an already alienated populace's sense of hurt and anger towards the government.

2. withdrawn or isolated from the objective world.

   Albert Camus's novel The Stranger is the story of an alienated, unfeeling man who kills someone for no reason and dies without remorse.

3. turned away from its original purpose or course; transferred or diverted.

   The investment firm, which misappropriated millions of dollars committed to it, was required to restore the alienated funds to the plaintiff.

4. Law. (of property, title, rights, etc.) transferred or conveyed to another.

   Much reservation territory is now owned and controlled by non-Indigenous people, depriving Indigenous nations of billions of dollars in potential income from these alienated lands.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of alienate.

Other Word Forms

• unalienated
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of alienated

alienate ( def. ) + -ed ²

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Explanation

An alienated person feels estranged or divided from others, like a shy bookworm sitting in a group of enthusiastic sports fans. The word alienated comes from the Latin alienus, which means "of or belonging to another place" — like an alien! A person who feels alienated may not actually be from another place (or planet), but he sure feels that way. You may feel alienated from your friends if they have all decided that punk rock is the greatest thing on earth, but you are still loyal to the classic rock that you all used to love.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

alienated

The British tabloid the Daily Mail reported that Guilfoyle had alienated staff with questionable behavior.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Granted, neither Gallego nor Murphy have alienated their constituencies with these ideas, but it’s a far cry from their personas when they were first elected.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

With a few posts, they alienated the very supporters who championed them as living proof of redemption.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

She went on to be the UN rights chief, a sensitive role in which she alienated some countries, especially China, which mauled her for reporting on Beijing's alleged abuses of the country's Uyghur minority group.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

Thus the students already at risk, already suffering, have become suspects, linked in various thoughtless ways to mass murder and—consequently—more alienated than before.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

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Related Words

• disaffected

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