alienation

Noun

alienation (usually uncountable, plural alienations)

1. (usually) The act of alienating.
   • The alienation of that viewing demographic is a poor business decision.
   • That the mode of alienating their lands, the main source of discontent and war, should be so defined and regulated as to obviate imposition and as far as may be practicable controversy concerning the reality and extent of the alienations which are made.1897, James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents
2. (usually) The state of being alienated.
   • His alienation from his family means he has nowhere to go at Christmas.
   • I refer to the state of our divisions and alienations of spirit on account of religion.1874, Edward Bannerman Ramsay, Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character

   Synonyms:

   estrangement

3. (usually) Emotional isolation or dissociation, as from being separated from social connections or estranged from one's family or community; a feeling of being an outsider.
   • I didn't care about anything back then, not holidays or family or my career, I felt utter alienation from everything around me.
   • When parents get divorced, their child sometimes experiences parental alienation, in which they are estranged from the noncustodial parent.
4. (usually) Verfremdungseffekt.
5. (usually) The transfer of property to another person.
   • The most usual and universal method of acquiring a title to real estates is that of alienation, conveyance, or purchase in its limited sense: under which may be comprized any method wherein estates are voluntarily resigned by one man, and accepted by another; whether that be effected by sale, gift...1768, William Blackstone, “Of Title by Alienation”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England
6. (Marxism, usually) The estrangement of people from aspects of their human nature as a consequence of the division of labour and living in a society of stratified social classes (e.g., under capitalism or feudalism).