exile
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Being banished from one's home or country.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ehgzylSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɛɡzaɪl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uncountable
The state of being banished from one's home or country.
A person who is expelled from home or country by authority
A person who is voluntarily absent from home or country
countable
Someone who is banished from his home or country.
verb
transitive
To send (someone or something) into exile.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The state of being banished from one's home or country.
Used this way, exile is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use exile
- “The poet was exiled because he signed a letter protesting the government's actions.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A temporary government moved to or formed in a foreign land by exiles who hope to rule when their country is liberated.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: being banished from one's home
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.