estrange
[ih-streynj]
- to turn away in feeling or affection; make unfriendly or hostile; alienate the affections of: Their quarrel estranged the two friends.
- to remove to or keep at a distance: The necessity for traveling on business has estranged him from his family.
- to divert from the original use or possessor.
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Origin of estrange
1475–85; < Middle French, Old French estranger; cognate with Portuguese estranhar, Spanish estrañar, Italian straniare < Medieval Latin exstrāneāre to treat as a stranger. See strange
Synonyms
See more synonyms for estrange on Thesaurus.comEstrange, alienate, disaffect share the sense of causing (someone) to turn away from a previously held state of affection, comradeship, or allegiance. Estrange often implies replacement of love or belonging by apathy or hostility: erstwhile lovers estranged by a misunderstanding. Alienate often calls attention to the cause of antagonism or separation: His inconsiderate behavior alienated both friends and family. Disaffect usually refers to relationships involving allegiance or loyalty rather than love or affection: disaffected workers, demoralized by ill-considered management policies.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for estrangement
Contemporary Examples
Poverty, alienation, estrangement, continuously aggravated by racism, overt and institutional.
‘Why Have I Lost Control?’: Cory Booker in ’92 on Rodney King Echoes FergusonCory Booker
November 26, 2014
Those views contribute to a sense of estrangement Muslims feel from the rest of British society.
The estrangement, as emotional as it is physical, will be 21 years old in August.
So where exactly is the line that a family member must cross for estrangement to be justified and furthermore not stigmatized?
Her departure from her kids when they were young was like a severing of relations, an estrangement that has not eased to this day.
Historical Examples
As if the estrangement between them had come of any culpability of hers.
A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens
Everything that I have heard of her prophesies this estrangement.
A Comedy of Marriage and Other TalesGuy De Maupassant
And this was the reason that we parted—this the sole cause of our estrangement?
Masterpieces of MysteryVarious
At all events, it led to a sort of estrangement between us,—the only one of our lives.
BarringtonCharles James Lever
Estrangement from the land of his birth set in when he left the monastery of Steyn.
Erasmus and the Age of ReformationJohan Huizinga
estrange
- (usually passive often foll by from) to separate and live apart from (one's spouse)he is estranged from his wife
- (usually passive often foll by from) to antagonize or lose the affection of (someone previously friendly); alienate
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Word Origin
C15: from Old French estranger, from Late Latin extrāneāre to treat as a stranger, from Latin extrāneus foreign; see strange
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for estrangement
estrange
v.
late 15c., from Middle French estrangier "to alienate," from Vulgar Latin *extraneare "to treat as a stranger," from Latin extraneus "foreign" (see strange). Related: Estranged.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper