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to cause to be withdrawn or isolated from the objective world: Bullying alienates already shy students from their classmates.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
Words Nearby alienate
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use alienate in a sentence
It’s characteristic of this intelligent but alienating text, which works better as literary criticism than biography, that Bradford feels no need to display any compassion for such a sad, lonely end.
Patricia Highsmith’s sordid search for inspiration | Wendy Smith | January 20, 2021 | Washington PostMany social media companies have been hesitant to come out and say some sources are less trustworthy than others for fear of alienating part of their audience.
On its 20th birthday, Wikipedia might be safest place online | Heather Kelly | January 15, 2021 | Washington PostGoldwater wanted to distance himself from the conspiracy theories, but he feared alienating his base.
Long before QAnon, Ronald Reagan and the GOP purged John Birch extremists from the party | Erick Trickey | January 15, 2021 | Washington PostHe seems to have done much more to alienate the other side, with 54 percent of Democrats having a “very unfavorable” opinion of him.
Telling a new mother that she is hurting her child will further alienate you from her.
Miss Manners: New mom’s posts might be hurtful, but butt out | Judith Martin, Nicholas Martin, Jacobina Martin | January 1, 2021 | Washington Post
Do the Republicans want to alienate important constituencies they will need in 2016?
Repubs Should Take It From Kucinich: Impeachment Isn’t Worth It | Eleanor Clift | December 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe President did not want to alienate Southern legislators whose votes he needed on his New Deal legislation.
Further violence and escalation of the events into a civil war would only alienate him from the bulk of the Ukrainian people.
Positioning yourself against President Obama is a good way to alienate the most important constituency in the Democratic Party.
That may work spectacularly well, or it may alienate some users.
A Christian who would attain perfection, ought to drive away from his mind all that can alienate him from heaven—his true country.
Superstition In All Ages (1732) | Jean MeslierIn 1790 Pitt was opposing his wishes elsewhere; he was unwilling to alienate him altogether, and agreed to put pressure on Russia.
The Political History of England - Vol. X. | William HuntSuch cruel insinuations can never alienate from you the friends who love you.
Ernest Linwood | Caroline Lee HentzHe lampooned the prince regent, yet he could not alienate the Tories.
My Recollections of Lord Byron | Teresa GuiccioliWe could not see what should again alienate us from one another, or how one brother could again oppress another.
A Traveler from Altruria: Romance | William Dean Howells
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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