loner
Americannoun
-
loners
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of loner
Explanation
A loner is someone who prefers being alone to spending time with other people. If you're a loner, you'd rather take a walk in the woods by yourself than go to a party. An extreme kind of loner is a hermit, a person who lives far from society, completely alone, and doesn't interact with anyone. Other loners are simply introverts, people who often need a break from socializing and enjoy spending time on their own. Loner seems to have appeared in the 1940s, originally in "Life" magazine's description of baseball player Ted Williams as "something of a loner (who) refuses to pal around with his teammates."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"He was a real loner," said a neighbor who spoke to AFP anonymously over fears of repercussions.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Almost performatively indifferent to fame, McCarthy instead tended to the myth, nurtured all his life, that he was a loner and outsider.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
For the wistful, lovelorn loner, it’s an imperative reminder that being attached at the hip can still be isolating, no matter how much two people think alike.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
Since then, despite Jeselnik’s self-proclaimed loner status, Fitzgerald and Jeselnik have struck up a friendship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
His statuses didn’t provide much context about his life, only that he’d been a loner who preferred runs with his golden retriever Turbo instead of social outings with his classmates.
From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
She has a knack for heightening moments and introducing characters that range from sad, weird loners to shifty and overconfident schemers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2025
Following the attacks, Sir Keir Starmer said Britain faced a new threat from "extreme violence carried out by loners, misfits, young men in their bedrooms".
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2025
Glowering loners staring at the two women under 40 like cats watching birds out a window.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2024
In Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves,” my favorite film of 2023, a pair of loners find nourishing points of connection in a cruel and grim world: the movies, karaoke and a dog named Chaplin.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 5, 2024
These loners have rented a tiny piece of land from the owner.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
