exile
Americannoun
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expulsion from one's native land by authoritative decree.
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the fact or state of expulsion from one's native land by authoritative decree.
She had to live in exile.
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a person banished from their native land.
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prolonged separation from one's country or home, such as by force of circumstances.
Many will suffer wartime exile.
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anyone separated from their country or home voluntarily or by force of circumstances.
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the Exile, the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, 597–538 b.c.
noun
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a prolonged, usually enforced absence from one's home or country; banishment
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the expulsion of a person from his native land by official decree
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a person banished or living away from his home or country; expatriate
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
- exilable adjective
- exiler noun
- exilic adjective
- quasi-exiled adjective
- unexiled adjective
Etymology
Origin of exile
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English exil “banishment,” from Latin ex(s)ilium, equivalent to exsul “banished person” + -ium -ium
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.
Within two years, however, she had lost her re-election bid and spent 18 years in political exile, unsuccessfully running in nine state and federal elections until she was elected to the Senate in 2016.
From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026
She has remained in the United States for most of her exile.
From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026
From the first days of his rule, the Fidel Castro referred to Cubans who went into exile as “gusanos,” Spanish for worms.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026
Hanging on the wall is a large portrait of Iran's last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was ousted in the Islamic revolution and died in exile.
From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026
My working theory then held all black people as kings in exile, a nation of original men severed from our original names and our majestic Nubian culture.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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.
