alienate
/ˈeɪ.li.ə.neɪt/
"alienate" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“alienate” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #27,714 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #27,714
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Estranged; withdrawn in affection; foreign
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | alienate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈeɪ.li.ə.neɪt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #27,714 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “alienate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for alienate is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈeɪ.li.ə.neɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #27,714 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Estranged; withdrawn in affection; foreign".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for alienate, with forms such as "ailenate", "aleinate", and "alieante". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "alternate", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English alienat(e) (“deranged; uncertain; sequestred, secluded”), from Latin aliēnātus, perfect passive participle of aliēnō (“to estrange, alienate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from aliēnus. by surface analysis, alien + -ate. See al… The correct English form is alienate, spelled A-L-I-E-N-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1Estranged; withdrawn in affection; foreign
Etymology
From Middle English alienat(e) (“deranged; uncertain; sequestred, secluded”), from Latin aliēnātus, perfect passive participle of aliēnō (“to estrange, alienate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from aliēnus. by surface analysis, alien + -ate. See alien, and compare aliene.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ailenate,aleinate,alieante,alienaet,alienatte,aliennate,alientae,alineate,allienate,laienate
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of alienate - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "alienate"?
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Using “alienate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-L-I-E-N-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈeɪ.li.ə.neɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “alternate” - see the side-by-side comparison. alienate vs alternate
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.