alienate
Americanverb (used with object)
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alienates,
present (3rd person singular)
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alienated,
past participle, past
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alienating
present participle
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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to cause to be withdrawn or isolated from the objective world.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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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alienatesimple
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alienatessimple
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have alienatedperfect
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has alienatedperfect
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am alienatingprogressive
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are alienatingprogressive
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is alienatingprogressive
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have been alienatingperfect progressive
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has been alienatingperfect progressive
Past
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alienatedsimple
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had alienatedperfect
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was alienatingprogressive
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were alienatingprogressive
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had been alienatingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
She steered clear of politics, saying she didn't want to alienate half her audience.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
A point they do argue — that picking on billionaires will alienate them, push them out of California and tank the state’s budget — is at least plausible.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
“At times like this you can see a glut of genre movies made by people who have no idea what they’re doing, and that can alienate audiences.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
You don’t want to alienate your mom or dad, or make them feel that you don’t support their late-in-life shot at romantic bliss.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
How could he have been so blind as not to see how dangerous it might be for him to alienate the one impartial party, his one potential ally?
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
In the episode, Scotty Bristol is portrayed as a demanding, abrasive boss who alienates his writers.
From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2025
If shifting the club’s priorities alienates some older members who happen to be among the club’s important donors, it would be justified, Pilch said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2024
He denies this assessment of his character, along with assertions that he alienates his fellow politicians.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2024
What alienates young people is how opera can often be presented.
From New York Times ● Jan. 20, 2024
“These are just rumors and gossip. The proverbs say ‘He who harps on a matter alienates his friend.’
From "The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen
Luxury brands have alienated some shoppers by raising prices too quickly without much innovation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
With a few posts, they alienated the very supporters who championed them as living proof of redemption.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
Granted, neither Gallego nor Murphy have alienated their constituencies with these ideas, but it’s a far cry from their personas when they were first elected.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
She went on to be the UN rights chief, a sensitive role in which she alienated some countries, especially China, which mauled her for reporting on Beijing's alleged abuses of the country's Uyghur minority group.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Burr had alienated Jefferson and the triumphant Republican party by his disloyalty as a vice president and had lost by a landslide in his bid to become a Federalist governor of New York.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
But the move risks alienating customers who already may be grumbling about the complex array of ticket options when it comes time to book a flight.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
In a time when teen life is subsumed by alienating digital technology and an understandable risk-aversion, “Nimrods” takes the yearnings of its young punks seriously.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
"They're alienating a hell of a lot of people who are athletics fans and potential stalwarts within the sport."
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Now his social-media feuds are alienating potential allies and frustrating voters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
If I preached unity, I must act like a unifier, even at the risk of perhaps alienating some of my own colleagues.
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.
