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Distort vs Alienate - What's the difference?

distort | alienate |

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between distort and alienate

is that distort is (obsolete) distorted; misshapen while alienate is (obsolete) a stranger; an alien.

As verbs the difference between distort and alienate

is that distort is to bring something out of shape while alienate is to convey or transfer to another, as title, property, or right; to part voluntarily with ownership of.

As adjectives the difference between distort and alienate

is that distort is (obsolete) distorted; misshapen while alienate is estranged; withdrawn in affection; foreign; with from .

As a noun alienate is

(obsolete) a stranger; an alien.

distort

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To bring something out of shape.
  • (ergative) To become misshapen.
  • To give a false or misleading account of
    • In their articles, journalists sometimes distort the truth.

    Related terms

    * distorted (pos a) * distortion

    Derived terms

    * distorter

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) distorted; misshapen
  • * Spenser
    • Her face was ugly and her mouth distort .

    alienate

    English

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Estranged; withdrawn in affection; foreign; with from .
    • O alienate from God''. (John Milton). ''Paradise Lost line 4643.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A stranger; an alien.

    • Verb

    (alienat)
  • To convey or transfer to another, as title, property, or right; to part voluntarily with ownership of.
  • To estrange; to withdraw affections or attention from; to make indifferent or averse, where love or friendship before subsisted; to wean.
  • * (rfdate) (Thomas Babington Macaulay):
    • The errors which alienated a loyal gentry and priesthood from the House of Stuart.
  • * (rfdate) (Isaac Taylor):
    • The recollection of his former life is a dream that only the more alienates him from the realities of the present.

    Usage notes

    Alienate'' is largely synonymous with estrange. However, ''alienate'' is used primarily to refer to driving off (“he ''alienated'' her with his atrocious behavior”) or to offend a group (“the imprudent remarks ''alienated'' the urban demographic”), while ''estrange is used rather to mean “cut off relations”, particularly in a family setting.

    Synonyms

    * (estrange) estrange, antagonize, isolate

    References

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