recluse

[ noun rek-loos, ri-kloos; adjective ri-kloos, rek-loos ]

noun

1. a person who lives in seclusion or apart from society, often for religious meditation.
2. Also a religious voluntary immured in a cave, hut, or the like, or one remaining within a cell for life.

adjective

1. shut off or apart from the world; living in seclusion, often for religious reasons.
2. characterized by seclusion; solitary.

recluse

/ rɪˈkluːʒən; rɪˈkluːs /

noun

1. a person who lives in seclusion
2. a person who lives in solitude to devote himself to prayer and religious meditation; a hermit, anchorite, or anchoress

adjective

1. solitary; retiring

Derived Forms

• reclusion, noun
• reˈclusive, adjective

Other Words From

• nonre·clusive adjective
• un·re·cluse adjective
• unre·clusive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of recluse¹

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French reclus < Late Latin reclūsus, past participle of reclūdere to shut up, equivalent to re- re- + -clūd-, combining form of claudere to close + -tus past participle suffix, with dt > s

Word History and Origins

Origin of recluse¹

C13: from Old French reclus , from Late Latin reclūdere to shut away, from Latin re- + claudere to close

Example Sentences

In addition to dealing with hunger and loneliness, North suffered bites from a Chilean recluse spider, which eventually became infected and threatened her time on the show.

From Outside Online

Despite the stereotype of the recluse who prefers movies to firsthand human encounters, I’ve often wondered if the faces of actors aren’t one of our best means for fostering empathy.

From Time

After all, the popular image of an amateur-radio enthusiast is an aging, armchair-bound recluse, not some crampon-clad adventurer.

From Outside Online

Later chapters become a depressing catalogue of bad books and bad health, as Highsmith retreated to Switzerland and became more and more of a recluse.

From Washington Post

Although there are a few medically important species like widow spiders and recluses, even their bites are uncommon and rarely cause serious issues.

From No Straight News

By only her second gig ever, she was opening for popular R&B recluse The Weeknd.

From The Daily Beast

But the area is now a popular tourist destination and the amount of social interaction can be too much for a true recluse.

From The Daily Beast

Two years later, in 1953, he evacuated to Cornish and became a celebrity recluse.

From The Daily Beast

Lee is not a recluse, but she famously stopped granting interviews in 1964.

From The Daily Beast

He was not a recluse, however, as the documents and electronic chips recovered by the SEALs from his lair revealed.

From The Daily Beast

But, good recluse, you have not read Sainte-Beuve's famous article on the Academy and the candidateships.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet, none the less certainly, the Frenchman's work made expression possible to the recluse of Oxford.

From Project Gutenberg

This man was called Lao-tse, a recluse and philosopher, who was already an old man when Confucius began his travels.

From Project Gutenberg

The road was most romantically recluse, and so serpentine as never to be visible beyond an hundred yards.

From Project Gutenberg

Im a confirmed old bachelor, a grumpy, surly recluse wedded to my pipe, but for all that I have eyes in my head.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• hermit