solitary
Americanadjective
-
alone; without companions; unattended.
a solitary passer-by.
- Synonyms:
- lone
-
living alone; avoiding the society of others.
a solitary existence.
-
by itself; alone.
one solitary house.
-
characterized by the absence of companions.
a solitary journey.
-
done without assistance or accompaniment; done in solitude.
solitary chores.
-
being the only one.
a solitary exception.
-
characterized by solitude, as a place; unfrequented, secluded, or lonely.
a solitary cabin in the woods.
-
Zoology. living habitually alone or in pairs, as certain wasps.
adjective
-
following or enjoying a life of solitude
a solitary disposition
-
experienced or performed alone
a solitary walk
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(of a place) unfrequented
-
(prenominal) single; sole
a solitary speck in the sky
-
having few companions; lonely
-
(of animals) not living in organized colonies or large groups Compare social gregarious
solitary bees
a solitary elephant
-
(of flowers) growing singly
noun
-
a person who lives in seclusion; hermit; recluse
-
informal short for solitary confinement
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of solitary
1300–50; Middle English < Latin sōlitārius alone, by itself, solitary, equivalent to sōlit ( ās ) solitude ( sōl ( us ) sole 1 + -itās -ity ) + -ārius -ary
Explanation
If you're a lone wolf, a one-man band, a rugged individualist, or an island unto yourself, you prefer to be solitary — in other words, alone or single. The term can be used to describe a person, a place, or a thing. Solitary comes to us from the Latin solus, which means alone. Note its similarity to words like solo and, for all you card players out there, solitaire. You can take a solitary walk, during which you don't utter a solitary word, but pause to admire a solitary green shoot peeping through the snow. Solitary is also common in the prison world: Inmates on Alcatraz who were deemed too dangerous to mingle with their fellows were put in solitary confinement cells.
Vocabulary lists containing solitary
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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:
Editing is traditionally a solitary art form, its practitioners working after shooting has wrapped to assemble the story from the captured footage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Seen against that history, her arguments no longer seem to descend from the altitude of solitary thought.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
During a U.S. cabinet meeting on Friday, Reuters snapped a “To Do” list on Bessent’s desk notepad that contained a solitary entry: “Buy Japanese yen $5-10 bill.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
"The day they took them to solitary, Vahid told them 'do not cry in front of the enemy. We are proud of what we are doing'," his relative said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
A solitary man wearing shorts and sneakers walked his dog on the opposite side of the street.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
Like everything these days, hermits exist on a wide spectrum and prefer a variety of identifiers: lovers of solitude, solitaries, contemplatives.
From New York Times ● Nov. 28, 2020
As Chaplin realized, it swarmed with solitaries, all of them dreaming, like dragons, of a private hoard.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 14, 2018
But I found out about a newsletter run by a couple in the Carolinas aimed at solitaries and, after posting an ad there, began writing to a few.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 6, 2017
He never pitied or condescended to his solitaries; instead, he loved and understood them.
From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2016
Nevertheless the solitaries were naturally fearful of giving offence to the followers of their Patron the Duke.
From A Mediaeval Mystic A Short Account of the Life and Writings of Blessed John Ruysbroeck, Canon Regular of Groenendael A.D. 1293-1381 by Vincent Scully
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.
