alien

1. 1.

   not contained in or deriving from the essential nature of something

   “an economic theory alien to the spirit of capitalism”

   “the mysticism so foreign to the French mind and temper”

   “jealousy is foreign to her nature”

   Synonymsforeign

   Similarextrinsic
2. 2.

   being or from or characteristic of another place or part of the world

   “alien customs”

   “exotic plants in a greenhouse”

   “exotic cuisine”

   Synonymsexotic

   Similarforeign

1. 1.

   transfer property or ownership

   “The will aliened the property to the heirs”

   Synonymsalienate

   Broadertransfer

Other forms of alien

plural

aliens·

past tense

aliened·

present participle

aliening·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about alien

What does alien mean?

alien means "a person who comes from a foreign country; someone who does not owe allegiance to your country". That is the primary sense; the word has 6 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in alien?

alien has 3 syllables: a-li-en. The stress falls on "a". In IPA it is /ˈeɪliən/.

What is another word for alien?

Close synonyms include foreigner, noncitizen, outlander, stranger, unknown. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is alien a common word?

alien is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.