alienated

Alienated is an adjective describing a person who feels estranged, detached, or otherwise separated from others, from a group, or from aspects of society. It can also describe processes or conditions that cause such estrangement.

Originating from the Latin alienatus, from alienus meaning foreign or strange, the term has been used in philosophy, sociology, psychology, and everyday language since the early modern period.

In psychology, alienation refers to a subjective sense of powerlessness, meaninglessness, or isolation that a person may experience in relation to others or to themselves. In sociology, alienation is used to analyze how social structures, institutions, or economic systems contribute to detachment from communities, work, or civic life.

In Karl Marx's theory of alienation, workers become estranged from the products of their labor, the labor process, their own human potential, and fellow workers under capitalist production, reducing the worker's sense of agency and fulfillment.

In literature and art, alienated characters or creators experience withdrawal or isolation from social norms or communal meaning, often as a theme or critique. The term is also used more broadly to describe political or cultural disengagement.

See also: alienation, estrangement, isolation, detachment.