expulsion from one's native land by authoritative decree.
the fact or state of expulsion from one's native land by authoritative decree.
She had to live in exile.
a person banished from their native land.
prolonged separation from one's country or home, such as by force of circumstances.
Many will suffer wartime exile.
anyone separated from their country or home voluntarily or by force of circumstances.
the Exile, the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, 597–538 b.c.
a prolonged, usually enforced absence from one's home or country; banishment
the expulsion of a person from his native land by official decree
a person banished or living away from his home or country; expatriate
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English exil “banishment,” from Latin ex(s)ilium, equivalent to exsul “banished person” + -ium -ium
If you are exiled from a place, you must leave and not return. Such punishment is called exile. For example, after he was removed from power, Napoleon lived in exile on the island of Elba. The verb exile comes from the Old French word essillier, meaning “banish, expel, or drive off.” However, some people who live in exile do so happily — and voluntarily — like American citizens in exile in Paris. Don't confuse being exiled with being banned: exile is for countries. If you cause trouble at a restaurant, you might be banned from returning, not exiled.
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Some 150 miles from the Tibetan border, in Dharamshala, India, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile stand as a vision of hope and inspiration to the rest of the world.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 28, 2026
Tuchel instead picked Arsenal's Ben White, who has not been a regular at club level and had been in self-imposed England exile since the Qatar World Cup in 2022.
From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026
They are shibboleths spoken at borders where a syllable can decide belonging or exile.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
"Marjane was an extraordinary artist and a charming woman who embodied the joy of creation and the sorrow of exile and painful memories. We mourn her this morning," Cannes festival supremo Thierry Fremaux told AFP.
From Barron's • Jun. 4, 2026
But this would mean exile, a flight from danger into danger, drawing it after me.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
