Estrangers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who have become unfamiliar or disconnected from each other due to distance, circumstances, or changes in relationship; people who were once close but now lack familiarity or emotional connection; persons who have grown apart and no longer share a mutual understanding
2. People who have lost their previous intimacy or connection through separation or altered relations; former acquaintances or friends who are now distant and unfamiliar; those who do not maintain former bonds and thus seem like unknowns
3. Those who were formerly known but have since become separate or alienated, leading to unfamiliarity; individuals once connected who now experience emotional or social distance; persons who have ceased to be close, resembling strangers in behavior or feeling

Etymology: "Estrangers" is simply the plural of "estranger", the person who is kept at a distance. The agent suffix "-er" was added to the verb "estrange", which came into English from Old French "estranger", meaning to make strange or alien. That French verb rests on "estrange", meaning foreign or unfamiliar, and the older "estrange" and "strange" share the same ancestry, so the two words are close relatives. The suffix does real work here. English "-er" traces back through Middle English and Old English to Latin "-arius", which marked a person connected with a thing, so the core sense is "one who does the action". An estranger, then, is one who makes another unfamiliar, and the plural refers to a group of such people.

Synonyms: foreigners, outsiders, aliens, strangers, immigrants

Antonyms: natives, locals, insiders, residents, citizens