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alien

alien

17 4.4
A person who feels they do not belong in a group or place
  • noun
  • /ˈeɪliən/
: forastero
  • I always thought the only alien in this high school was me.

Self, come in and be as vigilant as the alien you are.

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Examples

  • Half the time you feel like an alien in this land.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • In the bustling city, she often felt like an alien among her peers.

  • Like I used to call myself an alien mainly because of how I look.

  • At common law, an alien had no recognized political rights.

    Academic text (2017)
  • One is we right now are aliens to somebody else maybe, and we're not very loud.

  • "I have all my life observed human affairs as an alien, an outcast."

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Native Americans were considered members of "domestic dependent nations," or aliens who could not be naturalized.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Essa waited for him to come in, the sleepy alien boy cradled in her arms.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • As a newcomer, he experienced many moments of being treated as an alien in the community.

  • During the meeting, he expressed how he felt like an alien in a place he longed to call home.

Synonyms

stranger
vsalien
625 1.0

A person you do not know

is about lack of belonging or acceptance rather than mere unfamiliarity
outsider
vsalien
264 4.1

A person who is not accepted by a group or community

is about not feeling one belongs in a place or environment
interloper
vsalien
15 8.9

A person who goes into a place or situation where they are not wanted

is about not belonging or feeling out of place rather than active intrusion
odd man
vsalien
  • Informal
14 5.9

A person who does not fit in with a group

is about not belonging to a group or place rather than just being odd
outcast
vsalien
12 5.1

Not accepted by a group or community

is about not being considered part, not necessarily actively rejected
odd man out
vsalien
  • Informal
10 6.1

A person who is clearly different from others and does not fit in

is about broad nonmembership rather than only being different or eccentric
outlander
vsalien
6 8.8

A person from another country who is not part of the local community

is about not belonging or feeling out of place, not only origin
marginal
vsalien
2 8.1

A person who lives outside the main part of society

is about not belonging to a place or group generally, not only social margin
foreigner
vsalien
1 3.7

A person not accepted by a group

is about personal feeling of not belonging rather than only social judgment
1 5.2

A person who is not wanted in a place or group

is more about feeling or being seen as not belonging rather than open rejection

Antonyms

21 3.6

A feeling of being accepted and part of a group or close to others

20 3.4

A relaxed friendly way of behaving toward people you know well

Idioms

2 7.0

To be out of place among the people around you

Compounds

alien absconder
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A foreign person who stays in the United States after a court orders them to leave

How Included

insider
184 5.0
member
∞ 1.4
outsider
264 4.1
alien
17 4.4
stranger
625 1.0

Surface Forms

alien singular
aliens plural

Etymology

Alien comes from the old Latin word alienus, which means 'other' or 'belonging to another'. So when someone feels like an alien, they feel like a person who does not belong to a particular group.