isolate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
isolates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
isolated,
past participle, past
-
isolating
present participle
-
to set or place apart; detach or separate so as to be alone.
-
Medicine/Medical. to keep (an infected person) from contact with noninfected persons; quarantine.
-
Chemistry, Bacteriology. to obtain (a substance or microorganism) in an uncombined or pure state.
-
Electricity. to insulate.
-
Television. to single out (a person, action, etc.) for a camera closeup.
noun
-
a person, thing, or group that is set apart or isolated, as for purposes of study.
-
Psychology. a person, often shy or lacking in social skills, who avoids the company of others and has no friends within a group.
-
Biology. an inbreeding population that is isolated from similar populations by physiological, behavioral, or geographic barriers.
-
Also called language isolate. Linguistics. a language with no demonstrable genetic relationship, as Basque.
-
something that has been isolated, as a by-product in a manufacturing process.
an isolate of soy flour.
adjective
verb
-
to place apart; cause to be alone
-
med to quarantine (a person or animal) having or suspected of having a contagious disease
-
to obtain (a compound) in an uncombined form
-
to obtain pure cultures of (bacteria, esp those causing a particular disease)
-
electronics to prevent interaction between (circuits, components, etc); insulate
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
isolabilitynoun
-
isolatornoun
-
reisolateverb (used with object)
-
unisolateverb (used with object)
-
isolableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
isolatesimple
-
isolatessimple
-
have isolatedperfect
-
has isolatedperfect
-
am isolatingprogressive
-
are isolatingprogressive
-
is isolatingprogressive
-
have been isolatingperfect progressive
-
has been isolatingperfect progressive
Past
-
isolatedsimple
-
had isolatedperfect
-
was isolatingprogressive
-
were isolatingprogressive
-
had been isolatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of isolate
First recorded in 1800–10; back formation from isolated
Explanation
When you remove or set apart one thing from others, you isolate it. You could isolate yourself from people by living in a remote hut or, if you're a biologist, you could isolate a chromosome. The verb isolate comes from the adjective isolated, which comes from the Latin insulatas, meaning “made into an island.” You may have heard the John Donne quote, “No man is an island.” Donne was claiming that no matter how much you might try to isolate yourself from the rest of humanity, in the end people are all connected to one another. Humanity’s need for connectedness may, in fact, be illustrated by the fact that jailers frequently isolate criminals as punishment.
Vocabulary lists containing isolate
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
List 15
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Vocabulary from "Community is the 'killer app' missing from virtual reality" by Dmitri Williams
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Flowers has always been careful to isolate his family from the effects of fame.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
The best way to contain an outbreak is to quickly diagnose cases, isolate patients and track down all their contacts to break the chain of transmission.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
He was fined $14,650 for the protocol violation and missed a game because unvaccinated players had to isolate for 10 days after testing positive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez criticized calls to isolate Spain, arguing the country’s border controls remain intact and warning against measures that could undermine European unity.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
The key thing about invective or ad hominem attack is that it is a sort of reverse ethos appeal: the purpose is to isolate your opponent from the community.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
Each successful mission further isolates Russians at the front.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
By operating as a separate entity, GenCo isolates the cost of new growth to data centers, according to NiSource.
From Barron's ● Apr. 16, 2026
Cars pose a direct threat to pumas of the Santa Monica Mountains, and the freeway system also isolates them from other lion populations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2024
The nucleolus isolates the rDNA which encodes the RNA portions of the ribosomes, the protein-building machinery.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024
This is how he isolates the true impact of that single switch on the sprawling circuit board.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
The post-coup leadership was isolated for five years but has started a diplomatic offensive, touting deeply restricted polls it staged around the start of 2026 as a return to normality.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
Losing several state AG cases would make it more difficult for Meta to say the verdicts are isolated incidents and could create significant problems for its business model.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
When everyone is writing about an outbreak of a disease, no matter how isolated, it can feel more pervasive and widespread than it actually is.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Quarks and gluons cannot remain isolated, so after the collision they quickly combine with other particles.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
Those residing in ghetto communities were particularly ill equipped to adapt to the seismic changes taking place in the U.S. economy; they were left isolated and jobless.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
For some it can be an isolating experience.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The setup made it possible to recreate extreme conditions that ordinary solid materials cannot reach while isolating the effects of particle collisions.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026
“Grief is really isolating, especially child loss, because very few people lose their children,” Ferrante told me, adding that her relationship with the father ended two months after Ysa’s funeral.
From Slate ● Jul. 19, 2026
A monthslong internet blackout has severely disrupted online commerce, further isolating the youth demographic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
In the late 1930s, Beadle and Tatum reasoned that isolating the actual eye pigment of a fruit fly might solve the riddle of gene action.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
