hermit

[ hur-mit ]

noun

1. a person who has withdrawn to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.

   Synonyms: cenobite, anchorite, monastic, eremite

2. any person living in seclusion; recluse.
3. Zoology. an animal of solitary habits.
4. Ornithology. any of numerous hummingbirds of the genera Glaucis and Phaethornis, having curved bills and dull-colored rather than iridescent plumage.
5. a spiced molasses cookie often containing raisins or nuts.
6. Obsolete. a beadsman.

hermit

/ ˈhɜːmɪt /

noun

1. one of the early Christian recluses
2. any person living in solitude

Derived Forms

• herˈmitically, adverb
• herˈmitic, adjective
• ˈhermit-ˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• her·mitic her·miti·cal hermit·ish adjective
• her·miti·cal·ly adverb
• hermit·like adjective
• hermit·ry hermit·ship noun
• unher·mitic adjective
• unher·miti·cal adjective
• unher·miti·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of hermit¹

1175–1225; Middle English ermite, hermite, heremite < Old French < Late Latin erēmīta < Greek erēmītḗs living in a desert, equivalent to erḗm ( ia ) desert (derivative of erêmos desolate) + -ītēs -ite ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of hermit¹

C13: from Old French hermite, from Late Latin erēmīta, from Greek erēmitēs living in the desert, from erēmia desert, from erēmos lonely

Example Sentences

Our hermit—we’ll later learn his name is Rob—trades his truffles for necessary goods.

From Time

I’d grown used to hermit life, and the prospect of driving across the bridge to sing in a bar with strangers seemed risky, both health-wise, with reports of new variants around the world, and socially.

From Time

A hermit, asked how he’s doing, answers, “Oh, same old, same old.”

From Washington Post

During a summer internship for a local newspaper, she covered a hermit crab beauty pageant.

From Washington Post

A trip to North Korea introduced Monisha Rajesh to Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy, which she describes as “a gripping examination of the so-called hermit kingdom through the voices of six defectors.”

From Outside Online

The FBI and the President may claim that the Hermit Kingdom is to blame for the most high-profile network breach in forever.

From The Daily Beast

How ironic that the Hermit Kingdom is taking the blame for our first real look inside a clique that not even Vice dares penetrate.

From The Daily Beast

Someone called him a hermit crab lurking in the halls of the United Nations.

From The Daily Beast

The Hermit Kingdom has opened its embassy doors for an exhibit highlighting the work of six artists from its state-run studio.

From The Daily Beast

Considering the grand tradition of un-predictability in the Hermit Kingdom, there are countless other possibilities.

From The Daily Beast

It was the Hermit's vast store of scientific knowledge that brought the half-dead cop back to health.

From Project Gutenberg

He flattened out the slip of paper and placed it on the table in front of the Hermit.

From Project Gutenberg

In the Ozarks he made his living by hunting and fishing, and for some years lived almost the life of a hermit.

From Project Gutenberg

He took an apartment in the Temple, turned his back on his friends, and became an inaccessible hermit.

From Project Gutenberg

"But an ordinary hermit wouldn't be able to play like a virtuoso," objected Amy.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• recluse