2. Belonging to, characteristic of, or constituting another and very different place, society, or person; strange. See Synonyms at foreign. 3. Dissimilar, inconsistent, or opposed, as in nature: emotions alien to her temperament.
n, pl -thens or -then. 1. (Alternative Belief Systems) a person who does not acknowledge the God of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam; pagan. 2. an uncivilized or barbaric person. 3. (Alternative Belief Systems) the heathen (functioning as plural) heathens collectively.
noun, plural heathens, heathen. 1. (in historical contexts) an individual of a people that do not acknowledge the God of the Bible; a person who is neither a Jew, Christian, nor Muslim; a pagan. 2. Informal. an irreligious, uncultured, or uncivilized person. adjective. 3. of or relating to heathens; pagan.