estrangement
Americannoun
-
the state of being alienated or separated in feeling or affection; a state of hostility or unfriendliness.
Since the summer there’s been a rift in the family over something that my daughter posted online, and I still can't figure out how this estrangement occurred over something so silly.
Diplomatic relations between the two nations were officially restored after more than five decades of estrangement.
-
the state of being separated or removed.
After years of forced estrangement, the families of people living in the vast refugee camp are finally beginning to get some news of their relatives there.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of estrangement
Explanation
Estrangement is the feeling that you don't belong, especially when you're surrounded by other people. If you've ever had to sit by yourself in a school cafeteria, you know what estrangement feels like. Right in the middle of the word estrangement is strange, and it provides a great clue about how to use the word. Estrangement happens when something — or someone — makes you feel like a stranger. It can describe a couple that's split up or the alienation of a former friend. The meaning hasn't changed much from its Latin root, extraneare, "treat as a stranger."
Vocabulary lists containing estrangement
"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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Hamilton
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Brave New World
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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.
“Repair is not this fully cathartic moment,” says Rachel Haack, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Reno, Nev., who works with families dealing with estrangement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
Surveillance may be less of a concern in other families where divorce and estrangement aren’t part of the equation.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
Proponents hold that estrangement is being destigmatized, not necessarily happening more often, and that it can be needed and healing for adult children to cut off parents they deem harmful.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
“For some, estrangement is their first chance at adolescent rebellion,” Coleman says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
But let's pause for a moment on my dad's red and puffy face, and cut to the events leading up to our provisional estrangement.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
