alienation

/ˌeɪli.əˈneɪʃən/

//ˌeɪli.əˈneɪʃən// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"alienation" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“alienation” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #23,451. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,451
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of alienating.

Corpus desk

Index EN-alienation · alienation · English

alienation · rank #23,451 · 14 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #23,451
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH alderman

Nearest frequency peer: alderman (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “alienation”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “alienation” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

alienation vs allegation
80% similar
alienation vs alteration
80% similar
alienation vs alienating
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for alienation
PropertyValue
Headwordalienation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌeɪli.əˈneɪʃən/
Letters10
Frequency rank#23,451
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “alienation”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).alienationlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “alderman” (#23,450), “Aladdin” (#23,449), “Amor” (#23,453). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “alienation” is #23,451. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around alienation (IPA /ˌeɪli.əˈneɪʃən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #23,451 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for alienation, with forms such as "ailenation", "aleination", and "alieantion". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "allegation", "alteration", "alienating", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English alienacioun, borrowed from Old French alienacion, itself borrowed from Latin aliēnātiōnem. The correct English form is alienation, spelled A-L-I-E-N-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of alienating.
  2. 2
    The state of being alienated.
  3. 3
    Emotional isolation or dissociation.
  4. 4
    Verfremdungseffekt.
  5. 5
    The transfer of property to another person.
  6. 6
    The estrangement of people from aspects of their human nature as a consequence of the division of labour and living in a society of stratified social classes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how alienation appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The alienation of that viewing demographic is a poor business decision.
  2. That the mode of alienating their lands, the main source of discontent and war, should be so defined and regulated as to obviate imposition and as far as may be practicable controversy concerning the reality and extent of the alienations which are made.

Etymology

From Middle English alienacioun, borrowed from Old French alienacion, itself borrowed from Latin aliēnātiōnem.

This word in other languages

alienación(Español)aliénation(Français)Entfremdung(Deutsch)alienação(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ailenation
  • aleination
  • alieantion
  • alienaiton
  • alienasion
  • alienatino
  • alienationn
  • alienatoin
  • alienattion
  • aliennation
  • alientaion
  • alineation
  • allienation
  • laienation

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of alienation - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ailenation2aleination2alieantion2alienaiton2alienasion1alienatino2alienationn1alienatoin2
Edit distance from "alienation"

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 "alienation"?
"alienation" is spelled A-L-I-E-N-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌeɪli.əˈneɪʃən/.
What does "alienation" mean?
As a noun, "alienation" means: The act of alienating.
What words are commonly confused with "alienation"?
"alienation" is commonly confused with "allegation", "alteration", "alienating". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "alienation"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "alienation" is /ˌeɪli.əˈneɪʃən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "alienation"?
From Middle English alienacioun, borrowed from Old French alienacion, itself borrowed from Latin aliēnātiōnem. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "alienation", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

astronomer#23,460vehemently#23,428unforeseen#23,422surpassing#23,410

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

upholding14 variantsuncharted14 variantsbudgetary14 variantsCavendish14 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list