Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The condition of being foreign; irrelevancy; want of natural connection with the surroundings.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The quality of being foreign; remoteness; want of relation or appropriateness.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable The quality of being, appearing, or being perceived as
foreign ;exoticness ,otherness . - noun countable A characteristic that indicates foreignness.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the quality of being alien or not native
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word foreignness.
Examples
-
Yet the merit of this formidable arching tale about loss and foreignness is entirely Shamsie's.
Burnt Shadows: Summary and book reviews of Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie. 2009
-
The final damning evidence of my foreignness was my grandmother herself, when she appeared in school on those days set aside for parents to visit classes.
Borrowed Finery, A Memoir Fox, Paula 2001
-
Alfredson is Swedish, which may account for his detachment in viewing the film's setting as another country with three layers of 'foreignness' - the recent past, Britain, and the machinations within the Circus.
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011
-
But he writes and speaks perfect English so the foreignness is a bit of a mystery.
unknown title 2009
-
It's difficult when trying not to make assumptions about the flavour of the language - Could the 'foreignness' which writers like Bede perceived in the Pictish attitude towards women be reflected in their language?
Pictish female names Carla 2010
-
Mr. Obama will have to acknowledge the "foreignness" of foreign lands.
-
For all the accusations of his "foreignness," it was he who understood where and how the electorate had felt shortchanged.
The Home and the World Keerthik Sasidharan 2009
-
John McCain has not commented on Rep. King's remarks, but I will say that this has been an issue that both - that both Sen. Obama and his wife have addressed on the campaign trail before, Michelle Obama most emphatically, saying that his name, the name Hussein, has been invoked to stir fear and anxiety about "foreignness," "otherness," and it's something that the Democratic party should not tolerate in this election season.
-
Thubron is best of the three at representing the sheer feel of foreignness which is at the heart of the enterprise of travel writing.
Traveling Light Dinnage, Rosemary 1985
-
The fact of Madame Olenska's "foreignness" could hardly have been more adroitly emphasised than by this farewell tribute; and Mrs. van der Luyden accepted her displacement with an affability which left no doubt as to her approval.
The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton 1899
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.