isolated
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of isolated
First recorded in 1755–65; equivalent to French isol(é) (from Italian; see isolato) + -ate 1 + -ed 2
Explanation
Isolated means far away from everyone or everything else. The hermit who lives on a remote island is isolated from the rest of the world, with nothing but coconuts and fish to keep him company. The word isolated comes from the Latin word insula, which means island. You don't have to be on a remote island to feel isolated, though. Even people who live in big cities can feel a sense of isolation if they don't have many friends and spend a lot of time alone. In addition to remote or set apart, isolated can mean a single event, or incident. The high school students assured their principal that the cafeteria food fight was an isolated incident, promising that it would never, ever happen again.
Vocabulary lists containing isolated
A Long Walk to Water
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Wonder Woman's Superpower Words
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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.
Scientists cannot currently observe isolated quarks directly because quarks normally remain tightly bound together.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026
In contrast, Mr. Driscoll warned lawmakers, “our software systems are compartmentalized, isolated and ineffective against modern threats.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
For many Indigenous Papuans, the disappearance of the glacier is not an isolated event.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Lauren said frequent attacks affected her relationship and left her feeling isolated: "It was a dark time. It got to the point where I was like, 'I can't do this for another year'."
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Were the Australian extinction an isolated event, we could grant humans the benefit of the doubt.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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.
