isolation
Americannoun
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an act or instance of isolating.
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the state of being isolated.
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the complete separation from others of a person suffering from contagious or infectious disease; quarantine.
- Synonyms:
- segregation
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the separation of a nation from other nations by isolationism.
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Psychoanalysis. a process whereby an idea or memory is divested of its emotional component.
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Sociology. social isolation.
noun
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the act of isolating or the condition of being isolated
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(of a country, party, etc) nonparticipation in or withdrawal from international politics
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med
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social separation of a person who has or is suspected of having a contagious disease Compare quarantine
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( as modifier )
an isolation hospital
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sociol a lack of contact between persons, groups, or whole societies
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social psychol the failure of an individual to maintain contact with others or genuine communication where interaction with others persists
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without regard to context, similar matters, etc
Synonym Usage
See solitude.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of isolation
Explanation
Isolation means completely alone, like the stranded skiers who were in total isolation after an avalanche stranded them at the top of a mountain. People who live in isolation are completely cut off from the rest of the world, like the hermit who lives in a lonely mountain cabin because no one understands his desire to collect thimbles. A really contagious illness can land patients in isolation at their local hospital, kept separate from the rest of the hospital so they don't share their disease with the other patients. A country can exist in isolation, left alone because other nations don't agree with its policies.
Vocabulary lists containing isolation
Western Europe - Introductory
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Western Europe - Middle School and High School
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Australia and New Zealand - Introductory
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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.
Unlike the others, Stokes never produced a defining Ashes series - his performances against Australia came in isolation - but he was a better captain than Botham and Flintoff.
From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026
As much as the developers behind this technology tout its ability to bring users closer together, AI chatbots merely fuel our isolation.
From Salon • Jun. 28, 2026
A public tired of hoarding toilet paper in isolation lived it up.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 27, 2026
Even more severely, it drove a more extreme form of isolation for solo workers: The likelihood of not seeing a single person all day, even in passing, jumped by nearly 25 percentage points.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 27, 2026
The first possibility is that he worked in complete isolation, without knowledge of anything that had gone before.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
