What does "inalienable" mean?

Not subject to being alienated, that is, surrendered, taken away, or transferred to another.

How do you pronounce "inalienable"?

Pronounced //ɪˈneɪ.li.ə.nə.bəl//.

Inalienable

Q: What is a synonym for "inalienable"?

Common synonyms include: unalienable, unalienable, bound up in, bound up with, deep seated, deep-seated.

//ɪˈneɪ.li.ə.nə.bəl// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Adjective

1
Not subject to being alienated, that is, surrendered, taken away, or transferred to another. not-comparable
"Near-synonyms: indelible, unsurrenderable, permanent"
2
Of or pertaining to a noun belonging to a special class in which the possessive construction differs from the norm, especially for particular familial relationships and body parts, regarding permanence. not-comparable
"Just as some languages have a "be" for permanent states (which are essential) and a different "be" for temporary states (which are incidental), some languages have a "have" for unchangeable possession (which is inalienable) and a different "have" for changeable possession (which is alienable)."

Adjective

1
incapable of being repudiated or transferred to another wordnet
2
not subject to forfeiture wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

unalienable unalienable bound up in bound up with deep seated deep-seated

Antonyms

All antonyms

alienable

Example

More examples

"True democracy makes no enquiry about the color of skin, or the place of nativity, wherever it sees man, it recognizes a being endowed by his Creator with original inalienable rights."

Etymology

Borrowed around 1645 from French inaliénable, from in- + aliénable (“alienable”), equivalent to in- + alienable.

Related phrases

body part

More for "inalienable"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.