alienated

American  

[ey-lee-uh-ney-tid, eyl-yuh-] / ˈeɪ li əˌneɪ tɪd, ˈeɪl yə- /

adjective

1. indifferent or hostile.

   A year after the floods, the failure of the promised rehabilitation package has fed an already alienated populace's sense of hurt and anger towards the government.

2. withdrawn or isolated from the objective world.

   Albert Camus's novel The Stranger is the story of an alienated, unfeeling man who kills someone for no reason and dies without remorse.

3. turned away from its original purpose or course; transferred or diverted.

   The investment firm, which misappropriated millions of dollars committed to it, was required to restore the alienated funds to the plaintiff.

4. Law. (of property, title, rights, etc.) transferred or conveyed to another.

   Much reservation territory is now owned and controlled by non-Indigenous people, depriving Indigenous nations of billions of dollars in potential income from these alienated lands.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of alienate.

Other Word Forms

• unalienated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of alienated

alienate ( def. ) + -ed ²

Explanation

An alienated person feels estranged or divided from others, like a shy bookworm sitting in a group of enthusiastic sports fans. The word alienated comes from the Latin alienus, which means "of or belonging to another place" — like an alien! A person who feels alienated may not actually be from another place (or planet), but he sure feels that way. You may feel alienated from your friends if they have all decided that punk rock is the greatest thing on earth, but you are still loyal to the classic rock that you all used to love.

Example Sentences

Beijing has alienated most of the other European partners it courted through the so-called 17+1 initiative a decade ago, notes Dimitar Lilkov, a senior research officer at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies.

From Barron's • Apr. 17, 2026

Many alienated Tesla owners sold their vehicles in protest, leading to an influx of them on the used market, and therefore lower prices.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

But who was this Kanye West, singular and so far away, alienated among tens of thousands of fans?

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026

Some speculate that its ambiguous ending alienated audiences, although both viewers and critics seem to have liked the movie overall.

From Slate • Mar. 13, 2026

My swift rise to E’lir alienated me from most of the other students.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Related Words

• disaffected