Meaning & use
estrange
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To make someone who was close to you become distant, unfriendly or no longer in contact.
Grammar: Takes an object and is often used in the passive with from: estranged from his father.
Patterns
- estrange someone from someone
- be estranged from someone
The argument over the inheritance estranged the two brothers.
His constant criticism estranged him from his friends.
The scandal estranged the actor from many of his supporters.
verbtransitive
To deliberately pull yourself away from a group or person you were once close to.
Grammar: Used with a reflexive pronoun: she estranged herself from the family.
Patterns
- estrange yourself from someone
She estranged herself from her relatives after the funeral.
He estranged himself from the club by refusing every invitation.
They estranged themselves from the neighborhood with their loud parties.
Word forms
| third person singular | estranges |
|---|---|
| past tense | estranged |
| past participle | estranged |
| -ing form | estranging |
Common combinations
- estranged from
- He has been estranged from his daughter for ten years.
- an estranged husband
- She received a letter from her estranged husband.
- estrange yourself
- He estranged himself from the party after the vote.
- become estranged
- They became estranged after the wedding dispute.
- estranged relatives
- Estranged relatives gathered at the funeral.
Synonyms and how they differ
- alienate
- Alienate means to cause someone to feel unwelcome or unfriendly, and can be used for crowds and voters, while estrange is more often about close personal ties.
- drive apart
- Drive apart is a plain phrase for the same idea and is more informal.
- isolate
- Isolate means to cut someone off physically or socially, and does not require a former bond.
- divide
- Divide means to split people into groups and does not imply they were close before.
Opposites
Word family
- estranged adjective
- no longer close or in contact
- estrangement noun
- the state of being no longer close
- estranging adjective
- causing people to grow apart
Commonly confused: estrange or strange?
estrange vs strange
Strange means unusual or odd. Estrange has a related origin but means to cause distance between people, not to be odd.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'estranged' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The usual pattern is estranged from someone. The other prepositions are not used, and estranged cannot take a direct object in the passive.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “estrange”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.