alienate

American  

[ey-lee-uh-neyt, eyl-yuh-] / ˈeɪ li əˌneɪt, ˈeɪl yə- /

verb (used with object)

alienated, alienating

1. to make indifferent or hostile.

   By refusing to get a job, he has alienated his entire family.

2. to cause to be withdrawn or isolated from the objective world.

   Bullying alienates already shy students from their classmates.

3. to turn away; transfer or divert.

   to alienate funds from their intended purpose.

4. Law. to transfer or convey, as title, property, or other right, to another.

   to alienate lands.

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alienate British  

/ ˈeɪlɪə-, ˈeɪljəˌneɪt /

verb

1. to cause (a friend, sympathizer, etc) to become indifferent, unfriendly, or hostile; estrange

2. to turn away; divert

   to alienate the affections of a person

3. law to transfer the ownership of (property, title, etc) to another person

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Related Words

See estrange.

Other Word Forms

• alienator noun
• nonalienating adjective
• realienate verb (used with object)
• unalienating adjective

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.

Example Sentences

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

He thinks such an approach can alienate those with families, as well as experienced older workers who "can actually work far less and achieve much more because they know what they're doing".

From BBC • Feb. 8, 2026

Yet when the Broncos hired McDaniels in 2009, he managed to alienate both the team’s quarterback and star receiver before ever coaching a game.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 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

Related Words

• disaffect
• divide
• estrange
• separate
• turn off