alienation

[eyl-yuh-ney-shuhn, ey-lee-uh-]

noun

1. the act of alienating, or of causing someone to become indifferent or hostile.

   The advocacy group fights against prejudice and social alienation of immigrants.

2. the state of being alienated, withdrawn, or isolated from the objective world, as through indifference or disaffection.

   the group's alienation from mainstream society.

3. the act of turning away, transferring, or diverting.

   the alienation of land and resources from African peoples.

4. Law.,  a transfer of the title to property by one person to another; conveyance.

5. Statistics.,  the lack of correlation in the variation of two measurable variates over a population.

alienation

/ ˌeɪljəˈneɪʃən, ˌeɪlɪə- /

noun

1. a turning away; estrangement

2. the state of being an outsider or the feeling of being isolated, as from society

3. psychiatry a state in which a person's feelings are inhibited so that eventually both the self and the external world seem unreal

4. law

   1. the transfer of property, as by conveyance or will, into the ownership of another

   2. the right of an owner to dispose of his property

alienation

1. A feeling of separation or isolation. In social science, alienation is associated with the problems caused by rapid social change, such as industrialization and urbanization (see Industrial Revolution), which has broken down traditional relationships among individuals and groups and the goods and services they produce.

Marxism holds that workers in capitalist nations are alienated because they have no claim to ownership of the products they make.

Alienation is most often associated with minorities, the poor, the unemployed, and other groups who have limited power to bring about changes in society.

Other Word Forms

• alienative adjective
• nonalienation noun
• realienation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of alienation¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin aliēnātiōn- (stem of aliēnātiō ), equivalent to aliēnāt ( us ) ( alienate ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

A fan of sport, Selina tried a local female team but says she faced racism and alienation.

From BBC

In 1972, in a famous speech at the University of Glasgow, the trade unionist Jimmy Reid said Britain's "major social problem" could be summed up in one word - alienation.

From BBC

Having been dragged down by motherhood, a rocky marriage, and grief over the death of her own mother, Sophie enjoys Alex’s increasing dependence on her, a lone rock of support amid an ocean of alienation.

From Los Angeles Times

On the other hand, the core of the totalitarian mindset is an alienation from the world, and particularly from one’s own society.

From Salon

Repeatedly returning to themes of globalization and alienation, the 55-year-old director has meticulously chronicled his country’s uneasy plunge into the 21st century as rampant industrialization risks deadening those left behind.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• disaffection 
• estrangement 
• indifference 
• separation