estrange
Americanverb (used with object)
-
estranges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
estranged,
past participle, past
-
estranging
present participle
-
to turn away in feeling or affection; make unfriendly or hostile; alienate the affections of.
Their quarrel estranged the two friends.
-
to remove to or keep at a distance.
The necessity for traveling on business has estranged him from his family.
-
to divert from the original use or possessor.
verb
-
to separate and live apart from (one's spouse)
he is estranged from his wife
-
to antagonize or lose the affection of (someone previously friendly); alienate
Synonym Usage
Estrange, alienate, disaffect share the sense of causing (someone) to turn away from a previously held state of affection, comradeship, or allegiance. Estrange often implies replacement of love or belonging by apathy or hostility: erstwhile lovers estranged by a misunderstanding. Alienate often calls attention to the cause of antagonism or separation: His inconsiderate behavior alienated both friends and family. Disaffect usually refers to relationships involving allegiance or loyalty rather than love or affection: disaffected workers, demoralized by ill-considered management policies.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
estrangesimple
-
estrangessimple
-
have estrangedperfect
-
has estrangedperfect
-
am estrangingprogressive
-
are estrangingprogressive
-
is estrangingprogressive
-
have been estrangingperfect progressive
-
has been estrangingperfect progressive
Past
-
estrangedsimple
-
had estrangedperfect
-
was estrangingprogressive
-
were estrangingprogressive
-
had been estrangingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of estrange
First recorded in 1475–85; from Middle French, Old French estranger; cognate with Portuguese estranhar, Spanish estrañar, Italian straniare, from Medieval Latin extrāneāre “to treat as a stranger,” derivative of Latin extrāneus “external, foreign, strange”; see extraneous
Explanation
To estrange people may sound like adding wobbly antennae and an extra eyeball to their faces. Really, estrange means to push apart people who were once close to each other and cause them to be like strangers. The verb estrange comes from the Old French estranger, "to treat like a stranger.” Estrange is often used when talking about family members who are no longer in contact with each other. Estrange can also mean "to keep at a distance or remove." With this sense, a writer can estrange readers by using too many big words your can talk about wanting to estrange the neighbor’s dog from your flowerbed. If you're looking for a synonym that is less “strange” but more “alien,” try alienate.
Vocabulary lists containing estrange
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Born a Crime
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"The Iliad" by Homer, Book 1
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Research shows that adults who estrange themselves from relatives often do so "with a great amount of care and consideration over time," she says.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Translation was for him a ferrying across borders and a way of hearing one language estrange another.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
"Children who choose to estrange themselves aren't making a little decision on a whim," explained Joshua Stein, a researcher who tracks online trends, especially those that intersect with psychology and bioethics.
From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2024
I’m truly fearful he’ll get the idea that you estrange from a family member as easily as you throw away a napkin.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 24, 2021
After that, people began to estrange them, and to rouse her against him.
From The Deluge, Vol. I. (of 2) An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. by Henryk Sienkiewicz
She transforms herself from “a wild, hatless little savage” into a lady, which estranges her from her childhood companion and besotted admirer, Heathcliff, a foundling who lives with her family.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
There exists an invisible line that estranges us both emotionally and, often physically, from the rest of the society.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 17, 2019
Ultimately, this thing is just another machine that estranges us from the ingredients that make up the food and drinks that we consume.
From Slate ● Nov. 15, 2018
Meekness, he said, “enables us to set aside everything that divides and estranges us, and to find ever new ways to advance along the path of unity.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2016
With respect to divorce, a woman can demand by law and right to be separated from her husband, or divorced, whenever he ill-treats her, or estranges himself from her.
From Travels in Morocco, Volume 2. by James Richardson
The uproar estranged old friends and drew sharp criticism from Jewish organizations and Holocaust survivors, though it did not derail her career.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
His estranged wife and former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has repeatedly insisted she was unaware of the existence of the motorhome.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
‘I have zero regrets’: I’m 84 and estranged from my two adult sons.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
Rodgers also has been estranged from his parents and brothers for quite some time now.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
If McCandless felt estranged from his parents and siblings, he found a surrogate family in Westerberg and his employees, most of whom lived in Westerberg's Carthage home.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
By estranging me from the world, derealization, paradoxically, makes it more real.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 14, 2022
But the path to that point, the means of establishing what an I.O.C. spokesman called a “parallel world” inside the Games, has had an unmistakably estranging effect.
From New York Times ● Aug. 7, 2021
At venues such as the Mudd Club, where he had his first solo exhibition, Tseng was not always dressed in his estranging costume.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 23, 2019
Lenz’s film reveals how Kusama’s life has been if anything more estranging than her obsessive work, and the ways in which one informs the other.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 23, 2018
There is but one way you can possibly defeat her success, and that is by estranging her from the world, and withdrawing her from all intercourse with society.
From Sir Jasper Carew His Life and Experience by Charles James Lever
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.
