as in estrangement
the loss of friendship or affection
after years of alienation from her family, she became reconciled with them when her father fell ill
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Recent Examples of alienation
The Beach Year: 2000 Runtime: 1h 59m Following A Life Less Ordinary, Boyle’s Hollywood sojourn continued with this adaptation of Alex Garland’s debut novel, seen by many at the time as a bit of a Gen-X totem of drugs, freedom, and alienation.
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Tim Grierson, Vulture, 20 June 2025
Repeatedly returning to themes of globalization and alienation, the 55-year-old director has meticulously chronicled his country’s uneasy plunge into the 21st century as rampant industrialization risks deadening those left behind.
—Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2025
Those on the left must recognize that their moralistic zeal and narrowing of intellectual discourse have turned educational and cultural institutions into engines of alienation, not trust.
—Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 May 2025
In fact, the opposite had been the case — Pope Benedict’s relaxation of restrictions had decreased the radicalism and alienation of tradition-minded Catholics.
—The Editors, National Review, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for alienation
Tim Grierson, Vulture, 20 June 2025
Repeatedly returning to themes of globalization and alienation, the 55-year-old director has meticulously chronicled his country’s uneasy plunge into the 21st century as rampant industrialization risks deadening those left behind.
—Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2025
Those on the left must recognize that their moralistic zeal and narrowing of intellectual discourse have turned educational and cultural institutions into engines of alienation, not trust.
—Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 May 2025
In fact, the opposite had been the case — Pope Benedict’s relaxation of restrictions had decreased the radicalism and alienation of tradition-minded Catholics.
—The Editors, National Review, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for alienation
Cite this Entry
“Alienation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/alienation. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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