alienate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make indifferent or hostile.
By refusing to get a job, he has alienated his entire family.
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to cause to be withdrawn or isolated from the objective world.
Bullying alienates already shy students from their classmates.
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to turn away; transfer or divert.
to alienate funds from their intended purpose.
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Law. to transfer or convey, as title, property, or other right, to another.
to alienate lands.
verb
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to cause (a friend, sympathizer, etc) to become indifferent, unfriendly, or hostile; estrange
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to turn away; divert
to alienate the affections of a person
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law to transfer the ownership of (property, title, etc) to another person
Synonym Usage
See estrange.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of alienate
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin aliēnātus (past participle of aliēnāre “to transfer by sale, estrange”), equivalent to aliēn(us) “belonging to another, another's, foreign, alien ” + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
When you alienate people, you make them stop liking or caring about you. Show up at a conference of cat lovers with a sign around your neck that says, "I hate kittens," and you'll learn firsthand what that means. Back in the days of Latin, before the word alien came to mean little green men from outer space, it described something or someone that was foreign or different or not known: an alien custom, an alien nation. When you alienate people, you make them WISH you were an alien, or at least that they could send you to the moon.
Vocabulary lists containing alienate
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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The Devil's Arithmetic
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"Laws are not the only way to boost immunization”: an editorial from Nature
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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.
Chinese policy advisers say doing so would alienate the Global South audience that has become central to Xi’s goal of reshaping the world order in Beijing’s favor.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
In doing so, he struck a delicate balance, as he had to shift production in a way that didn’t alienate Chinese consumers or cede market share to domestic Chinese competitors.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 21, 2026
But McLaughlin did not merely alienate the judiciary; she consistently undermined the administration’s legal arguments, sabotaging lawyers’ efforts to cover up unlawful conduct by boasting about it on social media.
From Slate • Feb. 18, 2026
Their baseless concern was that it would alienate English speakers.
From Salon • Feb. 9, 2026
I did not want to alienate him but I was not going to cringe.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
