estrange
Definitions
To cause someone to become distant or hostile toward a person they were once close to
使疏远，使（与亲近者）关系破裂，离间
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedestrange = e- (a worn-down ex-, 'out') + strange (root: 'outside/foreign'). The whole verb literally means 'to make someone an outsider' — to turn a close person into a stranger. It describes a relationship going cold until two people who once belonged on the 'inside' end up shut out of each other's lives.
Root strange still carries 9 more wordsWhy It Means This
estrange is the verb that turns the root's noun stranger into an action: 'to stranger-ize' someone. It's almost always about close bonds gone cold — family, marriage — not about strangers who were never close to begin with. That emotional weight, plus its formal tone, is why you'll mostly meet it as the participle estranged (an estranged son, an estranged wife) rather than in the plain active voice.
Usage Guide
- Register: formal/literary; rare in casual speech. In everyday talk people say 'we drifted apart' or 'we're not close anymore.'
- Usual form: mostly passive/participle — 'be/become estranged from someone.' Active 'X estranged Y' is less common.
- Pattern: estrange someone FROM someone (His politics estranged him from his family).
Example Sentences
- 1.
His constant lies gradually estranged him from his closest friends.
- 2.
The dispute over money estranged the two brothers for years.
- 3.
She felt estranged from her own family after the argument.
Easily Confused
estrange vs alienate — near-synonyms for 'to push someone away,' but estrange is almost always about an existing close bond (family, spouse) going cold, while alienate is broader: you can alienate voters, customers, or allies you never were close to. Quick test: a person who was dear to you → estrange; a group or audience you're losing → alienate.