as in estrangement
the loss of friendship or affection
widespread disaffection with the governor's administration in its final year
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Recent Examples of disaffection
The site leaned into the idea that the excellence of American institutions had been corroded by wokeism, publishing columns and first-person accounts about parents’ disaffection with progressive private-school education and Hollywood’s discrimination against conservatives.
—
Clare Malone, New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2026
This confusion lay in the speech’s weaving, wending contradictions, and its shifts between tones, something Foster purposefully aimed for in telling the story of her life from child stardom to adult disaffection.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 7 Jan. 2026
In a recent interview on Travis and Jason Kelce's New Heights podcast, Clooney humorously observed how the twins' nascent teenage disaffection is keeping his A-list ego in check.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Dec. 2025
What happens next European countries will start to take on more of the cost of defense and are already increasing their spending on rearmament but also face a major challenge to support expensive welfare states, high debt levels and growing popular disaffection.
—Matthew Tostevin, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2025
Their lust for power often blinds them to popular disaffection.
—Ray Takeyh, Foreign Affairs, 4 Dec. 2025
Even the employees, once the guardians of glamour, linger on smoke breaks with the weary disaffection of people simply marking time.
—Leila Latif, IndieWire, 31 Aug. 2025
Other bands, such as Arcade Fire and the Postal Service, were turning away from the disaffection that characterized Gen X rock to express bighearted feelings in bespoke ways.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 29 Aug. 2025
Last election’s results suggested not so much a rightward swing as voters on the South and West sides simply staying home, pointing to signs of disaffection over Democratic leadership.
—Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 27 Aug. 2025
Clare Malone, New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2026
This confusion lay in the speech’s weaving, wending contradictions, and its shifts between tones, something Foster purposefully aimed for in telling the story of her life from child stardom to adult disaffection.
—Daniel D'addario, Variety, 7 Jan. 2026
In a recent interview on Travis and Jason Kelce's New Heights podcast, Clooney humorously observed how the twins' nascent teenage disaffection is keeping his A-list ego in check.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 15 Dec. 2025
What happens next European countries will start to take on more of the cost of defense and are already increasing their spending on rearmament but also face a major challenge to support expensive welfare states, high debt levels and growing popular disaffection.
—Matthew Tostevin, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2025
Their lust for power often blinds them to popular disaffection.
—Ray Takeyh, Foreign Affairs, 4 Dec. 2025
Even the employees, once the guardians of glamour, linger on smoke breaks with the weary disaffection of people simply marking time.
—Leila Latif, IndieWire, 31 Aug. 2025
Other bands, such as Arcade Fire and the Postal Service, were turning away from the disaffection that characterized Gen X rock to express bighearted feelings in bespoke ways.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 29 Aug. 2025
Last election’s results suggested not so much a rightward swing as voters on the South and West sides simply staying home, pointing to signs of disaffection over Democratic leadership.
—Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 27 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disaffection
Noun
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What kind of mean girl would confide in me about her husband Evan’s depression and their financial struggles and her estrangement from her father?—
Jen Wang,
Vogue,
6 Feb. 2026
-
After decades of estrangement between him and Hutton, the two reconciled last year.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The alienation that message creates—particularly in combination with extreme partisanship—has the potential to reshape the way Americans interact with their neighbors, schools, employers, churches, and democratic institutions.—
Yvonne Wingett Sanchez,
The Atlantic,
9 Feb. 2026
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While his early films were about becoming human again, about using the fiction of cinema to make someone more real, his recent work has tacked in the opposite direction—intensifying alienation to such an extent that the human disappears.—
Zachary Fine,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Disaffection.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disaffection. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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