alien
/'eiljən/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Being or from another place or part of the world; foreign: Describes something or someone originating from a different country, culture, or planet.
- Not contained in or deriving from the essential nature of something; unfamiliar and often distasteful: Describes a quality, idea, or feeling that is completely strange, different, or opposed to what is considered normal or inherent.
Noun:
- A person who comes from a foreign country; someone who does not owe allegiance to your country: A non-citizen or resident from another nation.
- Anyone who does not belong in the environment in which they are found: A person or creature that is an outsider or feels out of place.
- A form of life assumed to exist outside the Earth or its atmosphere: An extraterrestrial being.
Verb:
- To arouse hostility or indifference where there had formerly been love, affection, or friendliness: To cause someone to feel isolated or estranged.
- To transfer property or ownership (Legal): To convey or assign property to another.
Usage Examples
Adjective:
- The diplomat had to adjust to alien customs. (The customs were foreign and unfamiliar.)
- Cruelty is alien to her gentle nature. (Cruelty is completely foreign and opposed to her inherent character.)
Noun:
- The new immigration law defined the rights of an alien. (It defined the rights of a foreign national.)
- He felt like an alien at the fancy party. (He felt like an outsider who did not belong.)
- The movie is about an alien visiting Earth. (It is about an extraterrestrial being.)
Verb:
- His constant negativity began to alien his colleagues. (His behavior caused his colleagues to become distant.)
- The estate was aliened to a charitable trust. (The property's ownership was legally transferred.)
Advanced Usage
- "alien to" (phrase): Completely unfamiliar, opposed, or not part of something's nature.
- The concept of failure is alien to him. (He does not understand or accept the concept of failure; it is foreign to his mindset.)
Variants and Related Words
- Alienate (verb): To cause someone to feel isolated or estranged; to transfer ownership of property.
- Her harsh words alienated her supporters.
- Alienation (noun): The state of being estranged or isolated.
- He experienced a deep sense of alienation in the new city.
- Alienable (adjective) [Legal]: Capable of being transferred to the ownership of another.
- The land was considered an alienable asset.
Synonyms
- Adjective: Foreign, exotic, unfamiliar, strange, extraneous.
- Noun: Foreigner, outsider, stranger, extraterrestrial, noncitizen.
- Verb: Estrange, distance, disaffect, transfer, convey.
Related Phrasal Verbs / Constructions
- Alien from (somewhat formal/archaic): Different from; having no relation to.
- Their goals are alien from our own. (Their goals are completely different from ours.)
Related Idioms
- To feel alien: To feel like a complete outsider.
- Moving to a new country, she couldn't help but feel alien for the first year.
Adjective
- being or from or characteristic of another place or part of the world
- alien customs
- exotic plants in a greenhouse
- exotic cuisine
- not contained in or deriving from the essential nature of something
- an economic theory alien to the spirit of capitalism
- the mysticism so foreign to the French mind and temper
- jealousy is foreign to her nature
Noun
- a form of life assumed to exist outside the Earth or its atmosphere
- anyone who does not belong in the environment in which they are found
- a person who comes from a foreign country; someone who does not owe allegiance to your country
Verb
- arouse hostility or indifference in where there had formerly been love, affection, or friendliness
- She alienated her friends when she became fanatically religious
- transfer property or ownership
- The will aliened the property to the heirs