Alien Definition & Meaning

American

British

Scientific

Sensitive Note

Usage

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms alien American [eyl-yuhn, ey-lee-uhn] / ˈeɪl yən, ˈeɪ li ən /

noun

1. a creature from outer space; extraterrestrial.

2. Often Disparaging and Offensive. a resident of one country who was born in or owes allegiance to another country and has not acquired citizenship by naturalization in the country of residence (citizen ).

3. a foreigner.

4. a person who has been estranged or excluded.

5. a plant or animal species not originating where it is found but introduced, sometimes accidentally, from its native environment elsewhere.

   Imported plants, seeds, or bulbs may harbor unwanted aliens such as foreign insects or the seeds of other plants.

adjective

1. unlike one's own; strange; not belonging to one.

   In English class, our teacher treated all slang as alien speech.

   Synonyms: nonnative, incompatible, inimical, averse, antagonistic, foreign, unknown, unfamiliar, exotic

2. residing under a government or in a country other than that of one's birth without having or obtaining the status of citizenship there.

3. belonging or relating to noncitizens.

   Under certain conditions, seizure of alien property is authorized.

4. opposed; adverse; hostile (usually followed by to orfrom ).

   Their manifesto is full of ideas alien to modern thinking.

5. extraterrestrial.

6. (of a plant or animal species) not native; introduced from a different environment.

   The bullfrog is native to some Canadian provinces, but is an alien species in British Columbia.

alien British / ˈeɪljən, ˈeɪlɪən, ˈeɪljənɪdʒ, ˈeɪlɪə- /

noun

1. a person owing allegiance to a country other than that in which he lives; foreigner

2. any being or thing foreign to the environment in which it now exists

3. (in science fiction) a being from another world, sometimes specifically an extraterrestrial

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

1. unnaturalized; foreign

2. having foreign allegiance

   alien territory

3. unfamiliar; strange

   an alien quality in a work of art

4. repugnant or opposed (to)

   war is alien to his philosophy

5. (in science fiction) of or from another world

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

1. rare (tr) to transfer (property, etc) to another

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 alien Scientific / ā′lē-ən /

1. Introduced to a region deliberately or accidentally by humans. Starlings, German cockroaches, and dandelions are species that are alien to North America but have become widely naturalized in the continent.

2. Compare endemic indigenous

Sensitive Note

See illegal alien.

Usage

What does alien mean? Historically, the word alien has been used in a way that is now often considered disparaging and offensive: to refer to a person who was born in one country and now lives in another country without having become a citizen.Alien and its more general synonym foreigner are now often considered disparaging and offensive due to being used in a way that’s intended to otherize a person—mark them as different and unwelcome. Such use is typically attributed to xenophobia, racism, and anti-immigrant stances.This sense of alien is found in legal terms like ​​resident alien and illegal alien. General and legal use of these terms has decreased in recent years, but they are still in use in many cases.Relatedly, many object to the word illegal in illegal alien and illegal immigrant due to its implication that a person’s very existence can be illegal.There are other common uses of the word alien that are not considered offensive, but that are also based on the idea of something being unfamiliar or from an entirely different place.Alien can be used as an adjective to describe something as entirely unfamiliar, as in It was the first time he had returned in many years, and the place now seemed alien to him. The word foreign can be used in the same way.The word alien is also commonly used as a noun to refer to a being from another planet, sometimes called an extraterrestrial or a space alien. The classic image of an alien from science fiction and pop culture (the one that comes out of a flying saucer) is a little green humanoid with a big head and large eyes. But aliens have been depicted in many different ways.

Other Word Forms

• alienage noun
• nonalien noun
• proalien adjective

Etymology

Origin of alien

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin aliēnus “belonging to or affecting someone else; someone else's; not one's own; foreign,” equivalent to ali(us) “other” + -ēnus adjective suffix

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“My favorite is the surfing alien,” says Tom Storer, North American project director for Merlin Magic Making, the creative team behind Lego experiences.

From Los Angeles Times

They’re not eating up stars or alien ships any more than the Earth is eating up our space junk that falls from the sky.

From Literature

Her performance - complete with Bjork dressed in the entrails of a blue alien - was one of the most audacious moments of the night.

From BBC

In Teddy's mind, Michelle has assumed a powerful position on Earth, which her alien race is exploiting for its own ends.

From Barron's

But over the years, Horning’s unconventional style alienated some.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• foreigner
• immigrant
• migrant
• outsider
• refugee
• settler
• stranger
• visitor

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.