alienate
/ˈeɪ.li.ə.neɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.03 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To convey or transfer to another, as title, property, or right; to part voluntarily with ownership of.
verb
To estrange; to withdraw affections or attention from; to make indifferent or averse, where love or friendship before subsisted.
Example Sentences
- "O alienate from God."
- "The errors which […] alienated a loyal gentry and priesthood from the House of Stuart."
- "The recollection of his former life is a dream that only the more alienates him from the realities of the present."
- "The Communists had considerable influence in the Labour Party in the years 1920–26 and 1935–9. Their chief importance, and that of the whole left wing of the Labour movement, was the part they played in alienating the middle classes from Socialism."
- "In April and early May, the NUR and ASLEF threatened a three-day strike. Opinion on this was divided, both within the unions and among the public. Commentators saw the strike as likely to alienate the public and unlikely to win significant changes in terms of closures and job losses."
Etymology
From Middle English alienat(e) (“deranged; uncertain; sequestred, secluded”), from Latin aliēnātus, perfect passive participle of aliēnō (“to estrange, alienate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from aliēnus. By surface analysis, alien + -ate. See alien, and compare aliene.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: alienat, aliēnātus