alienate
to make indifferent or hostile: By refusing to get a job, he has alienated his entire family.
to cause to be withdrawn or isolated from the objective world: Bullying alienates already shy students from their classmates.
to turn away; transfer or divert: to alienate funds from their intended purpose.
Law. to transfer or convey, as title, property, or other right, to another: to alienate lands.
Origin of alienate
1synonym study For alienate
Other words from alienate
- al·ien·a·tor, noun
- non·al·ien·at·ing, adjective
- re·al·ien·ate, verb (used with object), re·al·ien·at·ed, re·al·ien·at·ing.
- un·al·ien·at·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use alienate in a sentence
Not only that, but it further alienates the LCWR from the bishops, as well.
Work that alienates one reader to the point of antagonism can feel like a perfect fit to another.
Lars Iyer’s ‘Wittgenstein Jr.’ Plumbs the Deep Fun of Philosophical Fiction | Drew Smith | October 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut talk-show hosts thrive on controversy, which inevitably alienates potential voters.
Senator Geraldo Rivera? Seems Unlikely the Fox News Pundit Will Run | Howard Kurtz | February 2, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe scene that Erwin claims alienates viewers most was written by a woman collaborator, and made him weep when he first read it.
Is October Baby’s Pro-Life Message Misunderstood? | Allison Yarrow | March 28, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST“The hierarchy of things is a kind of defense mechanism that just alienates,” says Koons.
Jeff Koons: One of Today's 10 Most Important Artists | Blake Gopnik | June 5, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
A husband has a right of action for damages against any person who alienates his wife's affections.
Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman | Albert Sidney BollesThere, you do not feel man as supreme; you are hurled against the stupendousness of things that alienates.
The Spirit of Japan | Sir Rabindranath TagoreOrestes breaks out into an insulting speech which alienates completely his grandfather.
Authors of Greece | T. W. LumbThe stamp of fashioning intelligence, or even of blind myth-making instinct, alienates and warns him off.
Robert Browning | C. H. HerfordComplete success alienates man from his fellows, but suffering makes kinsmen of us all.
Little Journeys To the Homes of the Great, Volume 3 (of 14) | Elbert Hubbard
British Dictionary definitions for alienate
/ (ˈeɪljəˌneɪt, ˈeɪlɪə-) /
to cause (a friend, sympathizer, etc) to become indifferent, unfriendly, or hostile; estrange
to turn away; divert: to alienate the affections of a person
law to transfer the ownership of (property, title, etc) to another person
Derived forms of alienate
- alienator, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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