alien

noun

A citizen or national of another sovereign state.

A person, animal, plant, or other thing which is from outside the family, group, organization, or territory under consideration.

Any life form of extraterrestrial or extradimensional origin.

One excluded from certain privileges; one alienated or estranged.

(sometimes derogatory) A mischievous or suspicious foreigner.

Alternative form of Alian. [A district of Kaohsiung, Taiwan.]

verb

(transitive) To estrange; to alienate.

(law) To transfer the ownership of something.

adjective

Not belonging to the same country, land, or government, or to the citizens or subjects thereof; foreign.

Very unfamiliar, strange, or removed.

Pertaining to extraterrestrial life; typical of an extraterrestrial creature.

Roots

alienusalien- · Latin · belonging to another

Synonyms for alien

extraterrestrialadj outlandern foreignern strangern uitlander exoticadj martiann spacemann alienatev unfamiliaradj strangeadj outsidern

Synonyms & related words for alien

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of alien — including extraterrestrial, outlander, foreigner, stranger, uitlander, exotic. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to alien

Explore words related to alien — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include noncitizen, alienage, alienness, earthling, alienism, earthman, spaceship, nonresident. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for alien

Common synonyms for alien include extraterrestrial, outlander, foreigner, stranger, uitlander, exotic, martian, spaceman — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does alien come from?

The word alien breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root alien-, from Latin alienus (“belonging to another”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.