exile
noun
expulsion from one's native land by authoritative decree.
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exile
American
[eg-zahyl, ek-sahyl]
/ ˈɛg zaɪl, ˈɛk saɪl /
noun
-
exiles
plural
-
expulsion from one's native land by authoritative decree.
-
the fact or state of expulsion from one's native land by authoritative decree.
She had to live in exile.
-
a person banished from their native land.
-
prolonged separation from one's country or home, such as by force of circumstances.
Many will suffer wartime exile.
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anyone separated from their country or home voluntarily or by force of circumstances.
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the Exile, the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, 597–538 b.c.
verb (used with object)
-
exiles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
exiled,
past participle, past
-
exiling
present participle
exile
1
British
/ ˈɛksaɪl, ɛɡˈzɪlɪk, ɛkˈsɪlɪk, ˈɛɡzaɪl /
noun
-
a prolonged, usually enforced absence from one's home or country; banishment
-
the expulsion of a person from his native land by official decree
-
a person banished or living away from his home or country; expatriate
verb
Exile
2
British
/ ˈɛɡzaɪl, ˈɛksaɪl /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
exilesimple
-
exilessimple
-
have exiledperfect
-
has exiledperfect
-
am exilingprogressive
-
are exilingprogressive
-
is exilingprogressive
-
have been exilingperfect progressive
-
has been exilingperfect progressive
Past
-
exiledsimple
-
had exiledperfect
-
was exilingprogressive
-
were exilingprogressive
-
had been exilingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of exile
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English exil “banishment,” from Latin ex(s)ilium, equivalent to exsul “banished person” + -ium -ium
Explanation
If you are exiled from a place, you must leave and not return. Such punishment is called exile. For example, after he was removed from power, Napoleon lived in exile on the island of Elba. The verb exile comes from the Old French word essillier, meaning “banish, expel, or drive off.” However, some people who live in exile do so happily — and voluntarily — like American citizens in exile in Paris. Don't confuse being exiled with being banned: exile is for countries. If you cause trouble at a restaurant, you might be banned from returning, not exiled.
Vocabulary lists containing exile
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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Persepolis
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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.
See Examples For:
The locations seemed far removed from the luxurious lifestyle Assad is reported to be leading in exile in Russia, and to the life Luka himself once led in Syria.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
The opposition is instead being represented by Dinorah Figuera, who returned to Venezuela from exile on Wednesday.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
She thanks Khalida Popal, who founded the original Afghan women's team, for pushing Fifa to recognise them now they are in exile.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Figuera, who had been the last leader of the 2015 assembly, had lived in exile in Spain and worked at a nursing home there before recently returning to enter the political discussions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
Then for a year, if not more, with Crick in exile in Brooklyn, peace and serenity would prevail.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
Exile, in Joyce’s case, was determined and purposeful.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
His mood was sullen, according to Meridith McGraw, author of Trump in Exile, an account of the former president’s time after leaving the White House.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2024
“Border Crossings: Exile and American Modern Dance 1900-1955,” an exhibition at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts through March 16, tells quite a different story.
From New York Times ● Dec. 21, 2023
Then four years later, the Rolling Stones installed themselves on the Riviera for the challenging basement recording of "Exile on Main St."
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2023
“My lord, will you revoke the Order of Exile on Estraven, to clear his name?”
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
In the 1930s and 1940s, postrevolutionary Mexico emerged as both an incubator of modern art and haven for European refugees, political exiles and other expats.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
For a woman who Hollywood exiles into the Nevada desert, only for her to build an empire and return to Los Angeles to conquer the industry, besting cancer should be a cinch.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
In February 1996, Cuban fighter jets shot down two small civilian planes - owned by a group of Cuban exiles in Miami.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
A former Cuban spy who infiltrated a group of Florida anti-communist exiles in the 1990s told AFP that Havana's fatal shootdown of two planes piloted by the activists set the stage for devastating US sanctions.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
They’re exiles who go around stealing Remarkable items and artifacts.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
Notably absent from the table is exiled opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, who has said she will not stand in the way of the process.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
In the first decades of Soviet communism, Russian Orthodoxy gave a great witness of martyrdom, even as its exiled thinkers enriched Christian theology and fostered ecumenical dialogue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
In his 2012 autobiography "An American Son," the man oft-memed as the "viceroy" of Cuba, recounts boasting to his exiled Cuban grandfather that he would one day overthrow Fidel Castro and free Cuba.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
Aang befriended Zuko, an exiled Fire Nation prince who at first hunted Aang to regain his father’s approval before joining his quarry’s mission to restore peace.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
In 1581 the exiled Hungarian bishop Andreas Dudith found himself playing host in Breslau to two astronomers, the Englishman Henry Savile and the Silesian Paul Wittich.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
In 1952 his re-entry permit to the U.S. was revoked, effectively exiling him for nearly 20 years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2025
He said that invading forces had ransacked his offices, exiling his team to another location where they are attempting to continue running their city.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2022
She also heeds Logan's orders, exiling Kendall, her own child, from her party to accommodate her ex-husband, who won't be seen with him.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2021
The loyalists still shun pop culture and defend Jeffs’s practice of exiling dissenters.
From New York Times ● Nov. 24, 2021
Now Alex was exiling Bri, the sweetest of them all.
From "The Dead and the Gone" by Susan Beth Pfeffer
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.
