alienation

[ eyl-yuh-ney-shuhn, ey-lee-uh- ]

noun

1. the act of alienating, or of causing someone to become indifferent or hostile:

   The advocacy group fights against prejudice and social alienation of immigrants.

2. the state of being alienated, withdrawn, or isolated from the objective world, as through indifference or disaffection:

   the group's alienation from mainstream society.

3. the act of turning away, transferring, or diverting:

   the alienation of land and resources from African peoples.

4. Law. a transfer of the title to property by one person to another; conveyance.
5. Statistics. the lack of correlation in the variation of two measurable variates over a population.

alienation

/ ˌeɪljəˈneɪʃən; ˌeɪlɪə- /

noun

1. a turning away; estrangement
2. the state of being an outsider or the feeling of being isolated, as from society
3. psychiatry a state in which a person's feelings are inhibited so that eventually both the self and the external world seem unreal
4. law
   1. the transfer of property, as by conveyance or will, into the ownership of another
   2. the right of an owner to dispose of his property

alienation

1. A feeling of separation or isolation. In social science , alienation is associated with the problems caused by rapid social change, such as industrialization and urbanization ( see Industrial Revolution ), which has broken down traditional relationships among individuals and groups and the goods and services they produce.

Notes

Marxism holds that workers in capitalist nations are alienated because they have no claim to ownership of the products they make.

Alienation is most often associated with minorities, the poor, the unemployed, and other groups who have limited power to bring about changes in society.

Other Words From

• alien·ative adjective
• nonal·ien·ation noun
• real·ien·ation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of alienation¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin aliēnātiōn- (stem of aliēnātiō ), equivalent to aliēnāt ( us ) ( alienate ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

It confounds an idea that the nation’s biggest cities, with their prosperity, opportunity, diversity, social tolerance, public services, and community institutions, are immune to the alienation and pessimism that Trump galvanized in “left-behind” rural areas eight years ago.

From Slate

"Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing?" he asked.

From Salon

That mentality breeds paranoia, alienation, and fighting between people who otherwise would be fine to live peacefully as neighbors, even friends.

From Salon

My mother, widowed but loyal to the lifestyle market as if it would protect her from the alienation of child rearing, was onto something.

From Los Angeles Times

This distrust highlighted the political alienation many feel, as respondents noted how the criminal justice system often fails marginalized communities and voiced their frustrations with its failures.

From Slate

Related Words

• disaffection
• estrangement
• indifference
• separation