Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense exiles, present participle exiling, past tense, past participle exiled
1. uncountable noun
If someone is living inexile, they are living in a foreign country because they cannot live in their own country, usually for political reasons.
He is now living in exile in Egypt.
He returned from exile earlier this year.
...after nearly six years of exile.
During his exile, he also began writing books.
Synonyms: banishment, expulsion, deportation, eviction More Synonyms of exile
2. verb
If someone is exiled, they are living in a foreign country because they cannot live in their own country,usually for political reasons.
His second wife, Hilary, had been widowed, then exiled from South Africa. [beVERB-ed + from]
They threatened to exile her in southern Spain. [VERB noun]
...Haiti's exiled president. [VERB-ed]
[Also VERB noun from noun]
3. countable noun
An exile is someone who has been exiled.
4. verb [usually passive]
If you say that someone has been exiledfrom a particular place or situation, you mean that they have been sent away from it or removed from it against their will.
He has been exiled from the first team and forced to play in third team matches. [beVERB-ed + from]
Michael was exiled to the kitchen for supper. [beVERB-ed preposition/adverb]
Exile is also a noun.
Rovers lost 4–1 and began their long exile from the First Division. [+ from]
More Synonyms of exile
exile in British English
(ˈɛɡzaɪl, ˈɛksaɪl)
noun
1.
a prolonged, usually enforced absence from one's home or country; banishment
2.
the expulsion of a person from his or her native land by official decree
3.
a person banished or living away from his or her home or country; expatriate
verb
4.
to expel from home or country, esp by official decree as a punishment; banish
Derived forms
exilic (ɛɡˈzɪlɪk, ɛkˈsɪlɪk) or exilian (exˈilian)
adjective
Word origin
C13: from Latin exsilium banishment, from exsul banished person; perhaps related to Greek alasthai to wander
Exile in British English
(ˈɛɡzaɪl, ˈɛksaɪl)
noun
the Exile
exile in American English
(ˈɛkˌsaɪl; ˈɛgˌzaɪl)
noun
1.
a prolonged living away from one's country, community, etc., usually enforced; banishment, sometimes self-imposed
2.
a person in exile
3.
the span of time in exile
verb transitiveWord forms: ˈexˌiled or ˈexˌiling
4.
to force (someone) to leave his or her own country, community, etc.; banish
SIMILAR WORDS: ˈbanish
Idioms:
in exile
the Exile
Word origin
ME & OFr exil < L exilium < exul, an exile, one banished < ex-, out + IE base *al-, to wander aimlessly > Gr alaomai, I wander, am banished
Examples of 'exile' in a sentence
exile
His homecoming was delayed amid fears that pockets of Gambian soldiers remained loyal to the exiled leader.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
She and her husband did not want to live as exiles in a foreign country and hoped things would get better in Aleppo.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He gave similar support to academic staff who were exiles from the country of their birth.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Yet that sense of exile also lends his songs a rare degree of sophistication.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
That political exiles from abroad so often end up in our capital should be a source of national pride.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The son of Cuban exiles is now being touted as a future leader.
The Sun (2010)
Once in the grounds, you entered a sort of internal exile.
The Times Literary Supplement (2011)
He imprisoned or forced into exile disruptive oligarchs, taking control of their assets.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
One is from his accountant, telling him that his years of tax exile are over.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
At Oxford they formed a band of embittered political exiles.
Diane Purkiss The English Civil War: A People's History (2006)
After just five months, he was also forced into exile with all the imperial family.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Now it's decided to bring internal exile back.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
He spent 27 years in exile during the apartheid period.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
But in recent years fewer exiles have been able to escape to the freedom of India.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
He lived lavishly in exile.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Exile was political, not economic.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
He is now in exile in the US.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The law also offers former exiles, political prisoners and relatives of the victims the option to apply to a committee to clear their names.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
In London the first family in exile was taken in by the Polish ambassador.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Both are sons of Cuban exiles, but have little else in common.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Already, as a result of his political beliefs, she had experienced exile and political persecution.
Paul Preston DOVES OF WAR: Four Women of Spain (2002)
He loves his job, but he's not exactly thrilled with being an exile from his home and family.
Christianity Today (2000)
They either get out of the business early, go to jail or live in exile on a Caribbean island.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
He may be able to make a deal, or may end up as yet another oligarch in London exile.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
I had departed three hours earlier from my home in exile, Dubai.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
In other languages
exile
British English: exile /ˈɛɡzaɪl; ˈɛksaɪl/ NOUN
If someone is living in exile, they are living in a foreign country because they cannot live in their own country, usually for political reasons.
He is now living in exile in Egypt.
American English: exile
Arabic: نَفْي
Brazilian Portuguese: exílio
Chinese: 流放
Croatian: egzil
Czech: exil
Danish: eksil
Dutch: ballingschap
European Spanish: exilio
Finnish: maanpako
French: exil
German: Exil
Greek: εξορία
Italian: esilio
Japanese: 追放
Korean: 망명
Norwegian: eksil
Polish: zesłanie
European Portuguese: exílio
Romanian: exil
Russian: изгнание
Latin American Spanish: exilio
Swedish: exil
Thai: การลี้ภัย
Turkish: sürgün başka bir yere
Ukrainian: вигнання
Vietnamese: lưu vong
British English: exile VERB
If someone is exiled, they are living in a foreign country because they cannot live in their own country, usually for political reasons.
His second wife had been widowed, then exiled from her home country.
American English: exile
Brazilian Portuguese: exilar
Chinese: 放逐他国通常出于政治原因而
European Spanish: exiliar
French: exiler
German: verbannen
Italian: esiliare
Japanese: 国外追放する
Korean: 추방되다
European Portuguese: exilar
Latin American Spanish: exiliar
All related terms of 'exile'
in exile
banished
tax exile
a person having a high income who chooses to live abroad so as to avoid paying high taxes
the Exile
the period in the 6th cent . b .c. during which the Jews were held captive in Babylonia
internal exile
the condition or a period of enforced removal from one's home or community to another place, usually remote , within the same country
Babylonian Exile
the exile of the Jews , deported by Nebuchadnezzar into Babylonia in 597 b.c. and permitted to return by Cyrus in 538 b.c.
Chinese translation of 'exile'
exile
(ˈɛksaɪl)
n
(u) (= condition, state) 流亡 (liúwáng)
(c) (= person) 流亡者 (liúwángzhě) (个(個), gè)
vt
使流亡 (shǐ liúwáng)
in exile在流亡中 (zài liúwáng zhōng)
1 (noun)
Definition
a prolonged, usually enforced absence from one's country
During his exile, he began writing books.
Synonyms
banishment
banishment from political and industrial life
expulsion
Her behaviour led to her expulsion from school.
deportation
Once my visa expired I would face deportation.
eviction
He was facing eviction for non-payment of rent.
separation
ostracism
In those days unmarried mothers suffered social ostracism.
proscription
her proscription by the party's leaders
expatriation
2 (noun)
Definition
a person banished or living away from his or her country
the release of all political prisoners and the return of exiles
Synonyms
expatriate
British expatriates in Spain
refugee
an application for refugee status
outcast
She had always been an outcast, unwanted and alone.
émigré
deportee
(verb)
Definition
to expel (someone) from his or her country
Dante was exiled from Florence in 1302 because of his political activities.
Synonyms
banish
He was banished from England.
expel
An American academic was expelled from the country yesterday.
throw out
deport
Six team members were deported for having the wrong visas.
oust
The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.
drive out
eject
They were forcibly ejected from the restaurant.
expatriate
proscribe
He was proscribed in America, where his estate was put up for sale.
cast out
ostracize
She is being ostracized by members of her local community.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of deport
Definition
to remove forcibly from a country
Six team members were deported for having the wrong visas.
Synonyms
expel,
exile,
throw out,
oust,
banish,
expatriate,
extradite,
evict,
send packing,
show you the door
in the sense of deportation
Definition
the act of expelling someone from a country
Once my visa expired I would face deportation.
Synonyms
expulsion,
exile,
removal,
transportation,
exclusion,
extradition,
eviction,
ejection,
banishment,
expatriation,
debarment
in the sense of eject
Definition
to compel (someone) to leave a place or position
They were forcibly ejected from the restaurant.
Synonyms
throw out,
remove,
turn out,
expel,
exile,
oust,
banish,
deport,
drive out,
evict,
boot out (informal),
force to leave,
chuck out (informal),
bounce,
turf out (informal),
give (someone) the bum's rush (slang, old-fashioned),