inalienable
Americanadjective
adjective
Usage
What does inalienable mean? Inalienable describes things, especially rights, that cannot be taken away, denied, or transferred to another person. Inalienable means the same thing as unalienable, which is no longer in common use. However, unalienable is closely associated with the phrase unalienable rights due to its appearance in the U. S. Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”Thomas Jefferson actually used inalienable in early drafts of the Declaration of Independence, but the spelling was changed for the final draft. Unalienable was the preferred spelling until around the 1830s, but inalienable has completely replaced it in regular use. Alienable is a word, but it’s rarely used. It means able to be sold or transferred. Example: We work to make the founders’ words true—that everyone has the inalienable right to freedom.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inalienable
Explanation
Something that is yours forever, that can’t be taken away and given to your little brother instead? That something would be called inalienable. The word refers to a natural right that cannot be revoked by an outside force. The word inalienable is often linked to human rights — you’ve probably heard the term “inalienable rights.” In the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson (using the un- variant) wrote that all men are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights" including "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The spelling may vary but the meaning is clear: an inalienable right is something that can’t be given or taken away by a government or another legal power.
Vocabulary lists containing inalienable
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
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Dear Martin
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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.
Hill spoke at the U.N.'s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People one day before the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
From Salon • Dec. 1, 2018
Inalienable, too, was the humane feeling he acquired that he was one at heart with the people of his village.
From ?mile Verhaeren by Zweig, Stefan
Inalienable, in-āl′yen-a-bl, adj. not capable of being transferred.—ns.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
Independent of time, place, or circumstance, I said: Intrinsic, Inalienable.
From The New Avatar and The Destiny of the Soul The Findings of Natural Science Reduced to Practical Studies in Psychology by Buck, J. D. (Jirah Dewey)
God strengthen me to bear myself; That heaviest weight of all to bear, Inalienable weight of care.
From Goblin Market, The Prince's Progress, and Other Poems by Rossetti, Christina Georgina
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.
