# exile

/ˈɛɡˌzaɪɫ/ (US) · /ˈɛɡzaɪl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/exile
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. state of banishment

noun · CEFR B2

the situation where you are forced to leave your country and live somewhere else, often for a long time.

For teachers: the state of being barred from one's native country, typically for political or punitive reasons. Uncountable in this abstract sense.

- The former president lived in exile for twenty years before it was safe to return home.
- After the failed coup, the intellectual elite spent decades in exile, maintaining their cultural identity through underground publications.

### 2. a banished person

noun · CEFR C1 · Formal

a person who has been forced to leave their country.

For teachers: an individual who lives in banishment from their native country.

- The city became a gathering place for political exiles from all over the region.
- The community of exiles worked tirelessly to lobby foreign governments for a change in their homeland's regime.

### 3. to banish someone

verb · CEFR B2

to force someone to leave their country as a punishment.

For teachers: to expel and bar someone from their native country, typically as a formal punishment.

- The king decided to exile the rebel leaders to a distant island.
- The government sought to exile the dissenting journalists, hoping to silence their criticism by removing them from the local population.

## Examples

- The king lived in exile for twenty years.
- After the revolution failed, many activists were forced into exile in neighboring countries to avoid arrest.
- The poet's long years of exile deeply influenced his writing, which often explored themes of displacement, longing, and the fractured nature of national identity.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.