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Definition
make one feel emotionally separated or unfriendlyIn law, "alienate" can mean to transfer property or ownership.
- She went out, looked at the cage, buried the starved little singer, and from that hour her heart softened towards the self-alienated man.Thomas Hardy -- The Mayor of Casterbridge
- This course of conduct had alienated the old bachelor's affection, once strongly fixed upon him.Nathaniel Hawthorne -- The House of the Seven Gables
- He had come back with nothing that could alienate her.Zane Grey -- The Man of the Forest
- Now, with Langdon separated from Sophie on the far side of the room, Teabing sensed he had successfully alienated the two companions from one another.Dan Brown -- The Da Vinci Code
- The first would alienate State power by implication.Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, & John Jay -- The Federalist Papers — Modern English Edition 2
- She could always make the kind of literal remark, like this, that could alienate me, even when we were children-much as I love her.Eudora Welty -- The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty
- Continuing his disgraceful deception, he succeeded in the course of the afternoon in alienating the affections of my only ward.Oscar Wilde -- The Importance of Being Earnest
- I'm afraid she's quite alienated the van der Luydens ...."Edith Wharton -- The Age of Innocence
- If I filed for divorce, if I alienated myself from Moody, he would write me out of his life.Betty Mahmoody -- Not Without My Daughter
- She despised me as much as ever, but she began to alienate her friends, husband, brother and even her own mother.Dave Pelzer -- A Child Called It
- Had anything occurred that was likely to alienate her from her family?E.M. Forster -- Howards End
- As always, I seem to be especially adept at alienating the few people I actually want to talk to.Sarah Dessen -- Along for the Ride
- Moreover, labor now belongs to the workers themselves and capitalism's alienation ceases.Jostein Gaarder -- Sophie's World
- How could I have alienated him so completely in such a short amount of time?Stephenie Meyer -- New Moon
- Surely, that will alienate our people.Kiera Cass -- The One
- But in the meantime, our priority needs to be forming an alliance with Luna, not alienating it with paranoia and distrust.Marissa Meyer -- Cinder
- Decorating each alienation, each species of withdrawal, as cufflink, decal, aimless doodling, there was somehow always the post horn.Thomas Pynchon -- The Crying of Lot 49
- " The look of shock on my classmates' faces made me feel profoundly alienated.Jay Allison, et al. -- This I Believe II
- Chance further alienating my mom?Ellen Hopkins -- Crank
- First we talked about the quarrels and how I see them in a very different light these days, and then about how we've become alienated from our parents.Anne Frank -- The Diary of a Young Girl