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Definition of alien adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

alien

adjective
 
/ˈeɪliən/
 
/ˈeɪliən/
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  1. alien (to somebody/something) strange and frightening; different from what you are used to synonym hostile
    • an alien environment
    • Why pick an area that's totally alien to you, with which you have no links at all?
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • feel
    • seem
    adverb
    • so
    • very
    • completely
    preposition
    • to
    See full entry
  2. (often disapproving) from another country or society; foreign
    • an alien culture
    • alien influences that threatened their way of life
    Extra Examples
    • A part of me still feels alien in this country.
    • His last years were spent alone and insecure in an alien land.
    • Native woodland was destroyed and alien conifers were planted.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • feel
    • seem
    adverb
    • so
    • very
    • completely
    preposition
    • to
    See full entry
  3. (disapproving) not usual or acceptable
    • alien to somebody/something The idea is alien to our religion.
    • A referendum is alien to the party’s concept of democracy.
    • Cruelty was quite alien to him.
  4. connected with creatures from another world
    • alien beings from outer space
    Topics Spacec1
  5. Word OriginMiddle English: via Old French from Latin alienus ‘belonging to another’, from alius ‘other’.
See alien in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee alien in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

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