Meaning & use

alien

adjective·Academic

Unfamiliar and strange, as if belonging to a different place, culture, or world; also, belonging to a foreign country.

See it in a sentence

The customs of the remote village felt completely alien to the visiting journalist.

The law restricts certain jobs to citizens rather than alien residents.

A note on using this word

As a noun, "alien" can refer either to a foreign national living in another country or, informally, to a being from another planet.

Words with a similar meaning

foreignunfamiliar

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Another way to use it

2. noun

A being from another planet, especially in science fiction, or a foreign national residing in a country.

The movie follows scientists making first contact with an alien species.

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