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Meaning & use

unalienable

adjective·Advancedformal

Last updated

UK/ʌnˈeɪliənəbl/
US/ʌnˈeɪliənəbl/

Meanings

  1. adjectivebefore a nounformallegal

    Impossible to take away, give up or sell, usually said of basic human rights.

    Grammar: Most often comes before rights: unalienable rights. It is a formal word.

    Patterns

    • unalienable rights
    • unalienable right to something

    The declaration lists life and liberty among the unalienable rights of every person.

    They argued that freedom of thought is an unalienable right.

    No government can take away unalienable rights, in this view.

  2. adjectivenot comparablelegal

    Not able to be legally transferred to another owner.

    Grammar: A legal sense relating to property or title.

    Patterns

    • unalienable property

    Under the old law, the land was unalienable and had to stay in the family.

    The title to the estate was unalienable for a hundred years.

Common combinations

unalienable rights
The document speaks of unalienable rights.
an unalienable right
They believe clean water is an unalienable right.
declared unalienable
The land was declared unalienable by the king.
unalienable and sacred
They saw liberty as unalienable and sacred.

Synonyms and how they differ

inalienable
Inalienable has exactly the same meaning and is the more common spelling in modern English.
fundamental
Fundamental means basic and essential, but does not say the right can never be taken away.
inherent
Inherent means built into something from the beginning and does not say it cannot be given up.
untransferable
Untransferable means only that something cannot be passed to someone else, not that it is a basic right.

Opposites

alienabletransferable

Word family

alienate verb
to make someone feel unwelcome, or to transfer property
alienable adjective
able to be sold or transferred
unalienably adverb
in a way that cannot be taken away
alienation noun
the feeling of being cut off, or the legal transfer of property

Commonly confused: unalienable or inalienable?

unalienable vs inalienable

Inalienable is the modern standard form with the same meaning; unalienable is mostly found in historical documents.

Practice

The old charter described life and liberty as ____ rights that no ruler could remove.

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