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lone wolf

American  
[lohn woolf] / ˈloʊn ˈwʊlf /

noun

  1. a person who prefers to live, act, or work alone or independent of others.

  2. a criminal who acts alone (often used attributively).

    lone-wolf terrorists.
lone wolf British  

noun

  1. a person who prefers to be alone

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
lone wolf Idioms  

  1. A person who prefers to do without the company or assistance of others. For example, Her nursery school teacher described Beth as a lone wolf, an assessment her parents found astonishing. This expression alludes to the tendency of some species of wolf to hunt alone rather than in packs. [c. 1900]

Etymology

Origin of lone wolf

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.