alienation

American  

[eyl-yuh-ney-shuhn, ey-lee-uh-] / ˌeɪl jəˈneɪ ʃən, ˌeɪ li ə- /

noun

• alienations
  plural

1. the act of alienating, or of causing someone to become indifferent or hostile.

   The advocacy group fights against prejudice and social alienation of immigrants.

2. the state of being alienated, withdrawn, or isolated from the objective world, as through indifference or disaffection.

   the group's alienation from mainstream society.

3. the act of turning away, transferring, or diverting.

   the alienation of land and resources from African peoples.

4. Law. a transfer of the title to property by one person to another; conveyance.

5. Statistics. the lack of correlation in the variation of two measurable variates over a population.

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alienation British  

/ ˌeɪljəˈneɪʃən, ˌeɪlɪə- /

noun

1. a turning away; estrangement

2. the state of being an outsider or the feeling of being isolated, as from society

3. psychiatry a state in which a person's feelings are inhibited so that eventually both the self and the external world seem unreal

4. law

   1. the transfer of property, as by conveyance or will, into the ownership of another

   2. the right of an owner to dispose of his property

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alienation Cultural  

1. A feeling of separation or isolation. In social science, alienation is associated with the problems caused by rapid social change, such as industrialization and urbanization (see Industrial Revolution), which has broken down traditional relationships among individuals and groups and the goods and services they produce.

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Discover More

Marxism holds that workers in capitalist nations are alienated because they have no claim to ownership of the products they make.

Alienation is most often associated with minorities, the poor, the unemployed, and other groups who have limited power to bring about changes in society.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonalienation
  noun
• realienation
  noun
• alienative
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• alienations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of alienation

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin aliēnātiōn- (stem of aliēnātiō ), equivalent to aliēnāt ( us ) ( see alienate) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

An easy way to experience alienation from your nice-smelling friends is to go a month without bathing. Alienation is a state of being cut off or separate from a person or group of people. The noun alienation describes the feeling that you're not part of a group. Your political views might cause you to feel a sense of alienation from the rest of your family, or your vegetarianism could result in alienation from your meat-eating friends. The Latin word for alien is alienus, "belonging to another." That idea of not belonging, or not fitting in, gave rise to the Latin verb alienare, "to estrange," which alienation comes from.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

alienation alienations

Vladimir Tikhonov, Korean Studies professor at the University of Oslo, told AFP Guryong "symbolises the alienation of the urban poor from the mainstream of South Korean society".

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

“Kafkaesque” suggests that translation is the quintessential medium for a body of work obsessed with alienation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

She says she connected with Eminem's work early on - especially the feeling of being out of step with the world around you and turning that alienation into music.

From BBC ● May 15, 2026

Written with clear compassion and boasting a robust performance by Lili Taylor, “I Shot Andy Warhol” portrays Solanas as a product of modern alienation.

From Salon ● Apr. 29, 2026

For many kids, the Net isn’t alienation, but its alternative; it’s their intellectual, social, cultural, and political wellspring.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

Events of every description, changes, alienations, removals, – all, all must be comprised in it; and oblivion of the past – how natural, how certain too!

From Slate ● Feb. 13, 2021

John David Washington’s performance in BlacKkKlansman is impressive but the film’s quasi-Brechtian alienations and comic cartoonery arguably mean that it is more difficult to engage with his character emotionally.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 4, 2019

To drink a tea made from saffron, foretells that you will have quarrels and alienations in your family.

From Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted, or what's in a dream: a scientific and practical exposition by Gustavus Hindman Miller

Thus far, both as lover and husband, in all their alienations, Hartley had been the first to yield; and it was so now.

From After the Storm by T. S. (Timothy Shay) Arthur

With such conflicting views between these great undoubted patriots and statesmen, there were increasing alienations, ripening into bitter hostilities.

From Beacon Lights of History, Volume 11 American Founders by John Lord

Related Words

• disaffection
• estrangement
• indifference
• separation