alienated
Americanadjective
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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.
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withdrawn or isolated from the objective world.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.
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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.
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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.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of alienated
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.
Vocabulary lists containing alienated
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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.
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
"I don't like crowds, I don't like clubs or drinking, so I just felt so alienated by it. Everyone else was looking beautiful and it was just not a great first Pride experience."
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
His military experience “left me feeling very unmoored, it left me feeling very disillusioned, very alienated and very isolated.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
“People are alienated from our current politics not because Americans are cynical, but because people recognize that they deserve better.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026
He was alienated by his friends and he shrugged it off; his coach kept harassing him about me and he ignored it.
From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi
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.
