Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To make hostile, unsympathetic, or indifferent; alienate.
  • transitive verb To remove from an accustomed place or set of associations.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Foreign; strange.
  • Reserved; haughty.
  • noun A stranger; a foreigner.
  • To alienate; divert from its original use or possessor; apply to a purpose foreign to its original, proposed, or customary one.
  • To alienate the affections of; turn from kindness to indifference or enmity; turn from intimate association to strangeness, indifference, or hostility.
  • To keep at a distance; withdraw; withhold: generally used reflexively.
  • To cause to appear strange or foreign.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To withdraw; to withhold; hence, reflexively, to keep at a distance; to cease to be familiar and friendly with.
  • transitive verb To divert from its original use or purpose, or from its former possessor; to alienate.
  • transitive verb To alienate the affections or confidence of; to turn from attachment to enmity or indifference.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To cause to feel less close or friendly; alienate. To cease contact with (particularly of a family member or spouse, especially in form estranged).
  • verb transitive To remove from an accustomed place or set of associations.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb arouse hostility or indifference in where there had formerly been love, affection, or friendliness
  • verb remove from customary environment or associations

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English estraungen, from Old French estrangier, from Latin extrāneāre, to treat as a stranger, disown, from extrāneus, foreign; see strange.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French estranger ("to treat as a stranger"), from Latin extraneus ("foreigner, stranger") (from which also English strange, stranger). Also see Spanish: extraño.

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Examples

  • He does not want to "estrange" the son he sees only several times a year.

    Carolyn Hax: Don't push husband to demand more from son 2010

  • I'm taking her hat off, in the rain, her hair spills like spinach all the way down to her backpack, the top pocket where the bowl and the cinnamon estrange themselves from the coffee.

    Discuss Cooper Renner 2011

  • As Jon Stewart's commentary on Dave Silverman's comments about the World Trade Center memorial demonstrated, unsophisticated criticisms of religion estrange reasonable people -- both fellow atheists, and potential religious allies.

    Chris Stedman: The Problem With 'Atheist Activism' Chris Stedman 2011

  • As Jon Stewart's commentary on Dave Silverman's comments about the World Trade Center memorial demonstrated, unsophisticated criticisms of religion estrange reasonable people -- both fellow atheists, and potential religious allies.

    Chris Stedman: The Problem With 'Atheist Activism' Chris Stedman 2011

  • Never has a football club chosen to estrange itself so thoroughly from the opinion of the rest of the nation.

    Kenny Dalglish's touch deserts him in case of misplaced solidarity | Richard Williams 2012

  • I'm taking her hat off, in the rain, her hair spills like spinach all the way down to her backpack, the top pocket where the bowl and the cinnamon estrange themselves from the coffee.

    Discuss Cooper Renner 2011

  • And home ends up being an old mansion with her hypochondriac of a mother and estrange half-sister.

    Archive 2010-02-01 2010

  • And this very transformation saves him from speaking irresponsible words which estrange without reconciling and from making hasty judgments which are blind to the necessity of social progress.

    Balloon Juice » Blog Archive » Miasma 2010

  • And home ends up being an old mansion with her hypochondriac of a mother and estrange half-sister.

    Wish List Wednesday #35: Sharp Objects 2010

  • Some within the US war machine argue that a nastier insurgency is no bad thing, as it would estrange the Taliban more from the population they claim to govern.

    The Taliban: Opening offices and options | Editorial 2012

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